Save Me From Myself
by Kyoumi
Summary: The Bachiatari Jewel, given to a human, it transforms them into a vicious monster. And, besides death, only one thing can save them from their fate. The Bachiatari Jewel has come into power, and it WILL destroy everything... unless InuYasha can stop it.
1. A Legend Retold

I'm so happy that I have a new fan fiction started! I think I'll really like this one, but I'm going to try to work on it faster. I'm sorry that _A Change in Our Future_ didn't get updated really fast. But, that's all right, because it's over and done with! This one is a teeny bit like _A Change in Our Future_, but it's much darker (though, the beginning isn't very dark). I even had my best friend help me out with it, and she's really evil. xD Though, her idea for this story was originally a joke! She was kidding when she came up with the idea, but now it's going to be a whole story! Well, have fun reading!

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter One: A Legend Retold**

_When people die, it's like they never existed... Photos, they can be altered. Bodies can be burned and destroyed. Memories can fade with time. I sometimes wonder if... all the people I killed was part of my imagination. But then I realize, no one can imagine the pain and agony that I went through._

- - -

InuYasha frowned at the floor of the 'buss' that he and Kagome were traveling in. Kagome said that she traveled in them all the time, though, InuYasha couldn't see how she could handle it without getting nauseous. The inu hanyou grabbed the brim of his cap for the fifteenth time, making sure it was still there to cover up his dog ears perched on top of his head. He couldn't do anything about his long white hair or golden eyes, but most people just assumed he was foreign.

The hanyou turned to the girl next to him, who was clad in a blue floral yukata. Though InuYasha slightly missed seeing her in the revealing school uniform, he couldn't help but like seeing Kagome in traditional clothing. Kagome's brown eyes stared out through the window, taking in the passing scenery. Her hand went up to her face to tuck back a lock of black hair that had fallen in front of her face.

"Where are we going again?" InuYasha asked, glancing over to Kagome. She smiled and looked back at him.

"We're going to a festival, InuYasha. It'll be fun! There will be food and games and a whole bunch of other fun stuff to do," Kagome said, clasping her hands together and resting her chin on her knuckles.

"Yeah, _fun_," InuYasha huffed sarcastically, turning away from Kagome.

Kagome glared. "It will be fun! Besides, we have to get ready for the festival back at the Sunset Shrine," Kagome argued. "You might as well know what a festival is like before you help out at one."

((A/N: I'm using the name Sunset Shrine instead of Higurashi Shrine because that's what it says in the manga. I could just as easily say Higurashi Shrine, so I might be switching between the two. Just a heads up.))

"Fine. But don't expect me to enjoy it."

"Well, if you don't enjoy it, I won't drag you to any more festivals, okay?"

InuYasha grunted in response, crossing his arms and facing forward in his seat once more.

Over the bus' intercom system a female voice spoke: "Now arriving at Moonlight Shrine. Now arriving at Moonlight Shrine."

"This is our stop!" Kagome exclaimed, dragging InuYasha towards the entrance of the bus. The bus stopped and Kagome ran out, pulling a slightly nauseous hanyou behind. Once inside the festival grounds, Kagome gasped. "Wow! It's so exciting! What should we do first, InuYasha?"

"I dunno. I don't know what to do at these things," InuYasha said, trying to ignore the fact that Kagome was still holding his hand.

"Well, I'm hungry, so let's get some food," Kagome suggested, pulling Inuyasha towards a colorful booth. She ordered some treats and gave InuYasha his snack. Once he bit into it, Kagome said, "Good, right?"

InuYasha nodded and ate his food quickly.

Kagome dragged him all around the festival, playing games and eating snacks. InuYasha was enjoying himself more than Kagome after a while, and even started to pull her to booths that intrigued him.

The sun set quickly for the two fairgoers. The lights around the festival dimmed and went out, except for a small bonfire in the middle. The many people circled around the bonfire, watching something in the middle.

"What're they lookin' at, Kagome?" InuYasha asked, nudging Kagome's shoulder.

"I don't know," Kagome honestly replied. "Let's get closer to find out what they're doing."

Kagome and InuYasha squeezed through the crowd and reached the edge of the bonfire. Across from them was an old man sitting on a large stump. He held a shrine charm in his hand and looked as calm as could be. His eyes were a milky white, indicating that he was blind, and every so often he would clear his throat loudly, but he wasn't trying to get anyone's attention.

Unexpectedly, he started speaking. "I am going to tell you a story about a powerful jewel," the man said, sparking the interest in the people surrounding the old man. A few people shivered in anticipation and Kagome grasped her hand around the bottle of jewel shards hidden under her yukata. "It's called the Bachiatari Jewel, and though I'm going to tell you this story, even I don't know all of it.

"Hundreds of years ago, when demons roamed the earth, a jewel was formed. It wasn't well known, but soon it came into power. The jewel created one of the most powerful demons in history. The demon wreaked havoc in Japan, and killed countless people. After many attempts to destroy the demon, one person single-handedly managed to defeat it. No one knows how the demon was defeated, but no doubt it was a ferocious battle. Though, not much else is known about the warrior.

"Now, at this shrine, we take these charms," the old man lifted up the blackish marble charm in his hand, "and we either keep them for protection from demons, or burn them to celebrate the destruction of the Bachiatari Jewel." The blind man stood up and gently tossed the small charm into the fire. Then, he walked away without a word.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha and asked, "Do you want one of those charms for good luck?"

InuYasha shrugged and glanced at Kagome. "I don't care." Kagome took that as a 'yes' and went to buy a charm for InuYasha.

The hanyou stood there impatiently and grabbed the brim of his hat again. Kagome came back and gave inuYasha one of the two charms that she bought.

"Just so you know, InuYasha, these charms don't actually protect you from demons. It's just for fun," Kagome explained, walking in front of the bonfire. She softly tossed the trinket into the middle of the flames, and looked back at InuYasha.

"That's stupid," he said, walking next to her and throwing his marble in the fire. "Why buy something when it doesn't do anything?"

Completely ignoring what InuYasha said and looking into the dancing flames, Kagome thought out loud, "I wonder if that legend the old man told us is true, or if it's just a myth? If it is true, I don't want to meet up with that demon."

InuYasha 'keh'ed. "Don't worry, Kagome. I'll protect you from any demon," promised InuYasha.

Kagome smiled and watched the dancing fire in front of her. "I know, InuYasha. I know."

- - -

The next day, Kagome had school. More specifically, Kagome had a test. She had studied all week, and had somehow managed to get a decent score on her test.

Later that day, Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi dragged Kagome to WacDnald's, mostly against her will.

((A/N: No, I didn't forget an 'o' in the restaurant's name. I noticed in the anime that there is no 'o' on the sign above the restaurant. At least, I think there isn't.))

"So, Kagome," Eri started, leaning forward a bit, "how's your boyfriend doing?"

Kagome blushed a bit at the thought of calling InuYasha her boyfriend. "He's fine."

"That's good. You always have something odd to say about him. It's nice to hear things are going better," Ayumi said, taking a sip of her shake.

"I guess so," Kagome said, trying to dismiss the subject.

"It is a good thing!" Yuka said giggling, resting her head on her hands. "Have you two done anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like gone on any dates? Have you two done anything like that lately?" Yuka restated. Kagome inwardly relaxed when Yuka said that, because that wasn't what Kagome thought she meant.

"Oh." Kagome thought for a moment and smiled softly. "Well, yesterday he and I went to a festival."

"There was a festival?" Eri asked.

"And it wasn't during summer?" Ayumi questioned.

"It's close to summer," Kagome answered, shrugging.

"Well, whatever. At least you had fun," Yuka said, smiling lightly.

"How can you tell?" Kagome pressed.

"Your face says it all," Yuka said, giggling. "It's easy to read your emotions, Kagome."

"Not for some people," Kagome muttered, instantly thinking of the hanyou that was at her home right now.

- - -

"When are we going?" InuYasha asked. He sat on Kagome's pink bed, tapping his long nails against the sheath of his sword.

"Will you just shut up?" Kagome snapped, whipping around in the chair at her desk and glaring at InuYasha. "I already told you that we would go in the morning!"

"Well, you don't have to bite my head off, wench!" InuYasha argued, clenching his fist.

"I do when you've been bothering me for the last hour! I'm trying to study! Why don't you go bother Souta or something?" Kagome shouted back, getting out of her chair to argue with the hanyou in front of her.

"It's not my fault that you're boring!" InuYasha said, standing on the bouncy pink bed.

"OOOH! Will you just shut up and SI--"

"KAGOME! Dinner! Bring InuYasha down here too, I don't want your room to be destroyed!" Kagome's mother called from the kitchen.

"You're soooo lucky I didn't get to finish that sentence," Kagome said, not even glancing at InuYasha as she walked out of the room. If she did look at him, she would have seen him with a look of fear that not even demons could cause on InuYasha's face.

_Chapter End_

* * *

Well, I'm sure you're all wondering, "What's so dark about this story?" Don't worry, it'll get really dark soon.

Review please!


	2. Traveling Hardships

Well, I am officially bored. At least I can write. There's nothing really for me to do, except sit in front of the fan and try to keep cool. Man, it's hot out. This heat wave is going to be the death of me. I just know it.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Two: Traveling Hardships**

_After what happened, I cherished the memories of days past. Even though I know that I should be grateful to still be alive, I can't help but think about what things would be like if circumstances were different. I wish that things didn't have to go the way that they did. But, I can't change the past, even though it changed me..._

- - -

InuYasha jumped out of the well with Kagome's bag in one hand and Kagome in the other. She glared at him for picking her up like that, but didn't say anything.

The two of them started to walk towards the village when Sango burst through the clearing that the well was in. "Great! You two are here! I came here to see if you guys had arrived yet. We heard a rumor about Naraku!"

"Well, let's get going, then!" InuYasha shouted angrily. He ran towards the village to get things ready for the trip.

"Did you really hear something about Naraku?" Kagome asked Sango, walking towards her friend. The breeze started to pick up and Kagome's bare legs started to get goose bumps.

Sango nodded. "Yes! We heard he was to the north," Sango explained, all business now. She looked past Kagome and got a hard look in her eye. "I know that when we meet him next time, it'll be the start of something huge. Prepare yourself, Kagome-chan."

Kagome was a little frightened at Sango's sudden... scariness, but Kagome just nodded in reply. "I will."

- - -

After a day of getting supplies ready and such, they left the morning after Kagome and InuYasha came back from the modern era.

The day before, Shippo had been whining to Kagome that he didn't want her to go "Back to the future" anymore. He was still a bit upset the morning that they left, but he was feeling better.

"So we're going north, right?" Kagome asked the group, walking with Sango next to her.

"Yes. We heard about some villages being killed by a strange miasma. We think it's a safe bet that Naraku's there," Miroku explained, turning his head slightly to speak to Kagome.

"I hate how long it's gonna take to get there," InuYasha said, crossing his arms in his sleeves.

"Be patient, InuYasha," Kagome said to the hanyou.

"Yes, InuYasha, patience is key," Miroku said, sounding very wise at that particular moment.

"Shut up, Miroku," InuYasha said, hitting the monk in the back of the head.

Miroku rubbed the lump that had formed and asked InuYasha, "Why did you do that?"

"Because I'll get hurt if I hit Kagome," InuYasha said, glaring at the road ahead of them.

Kagome looked angry. "If you were even thinking about--"

"No! I wasn't! It's a joke!" InuYasha said, putting up his hands to try and prove his innocence.

"It better have been a joke," Kagome seethed, glaring at the hanyou. He gulped and continued walking, making sure to distance himself a little bit farther from Kagome.

- - -

"You know that making fun of InuYasha just brings you pain," Sango said to Miroku as they were out gathering firewood for the night. Kagome had some of her fancy ninja food from her time.

"Yes, but it also is quite fun. You should try it some time. I'm sure that he wouldn't hit you, since you're a girl," Miroku said, smiling.

"Are we children again? That 'hitting a girl' thing is so stupid!" Sango said, picking up a stick for fire.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really!"

Miroku walked over to Sango and lightly hit his fist against the top of her head.

"What did you do that for?" Sango shouted at Miroku.

"I'm trying to prove a point," the monk explained, shrugging. "Well, I suppose you're right. You can handle being hit... Though, that doesn't mean I'm going to start hitting you, now," Miroku said, picking up a stick.

"Well..." Sango said, looking at Miroku carefully. "Whatever. I'm glad you're not going to hit me."

"How could I hit such a beautiful woman, anyway?" And with that comment came the usual butt rubbing and face slapping.

Sango sighed and started to walk towards the camp, leaving a barely conscious Miroku behind.

He quickly went back to normal and gathered up his pile of firewood. "Wait, Sango, my dear! Don't leave me behind. Your beauty is too extravagant to leave alone!"

- - -

_Would that stupid moron just keep his hands off of Sango for one minute? I would like to walk in peace for once! _InuYasha softly growled, trying to ignore the almost constant sound of slapping.

Kagome walked next to him, sighing every so often when she heard the sound of slapping. Even though it was a nice day, she couldn't seem to enjoy it.

"What's wrong, Kagome?" InuYasha asked. Kagome turned her head to InuYasha and raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you care?" Kagome asked, curious about InuYasha's sudden interest in her feelings.

He looked back at her for a second, but then resumed looking straight ahead. "You've been sighing all day! It's getting sort of annoying."

Kagome glared and then turned her gaze to the path before them. "Oh. So you just want to get rid of a minor annoyance?" Kagome spat, crossing her arms.

"I didn't say that!" InuYasha bit back, stopping in his tracks and shouting at Kagome.

"Then what do you mean?" Kagome stood up straight and put her hands on her hips.

"I mean is I don't want to see you upset! I just wanted to know what's wrong! Is that a crime?" InuYasha shouted. He readjusted the bag on his back that he was carrying for Kagome. The quarreling two failed to notice that the exterminator, monk, and kitsune had stopped in their tracks, watching the fight play out.

Kagome's eyes widened and her hands fell from her hips. She went into a more casual pose and asked, "Do you really mean that?"

"Yes!" InuYasha grumbled, turning to walk on the path again. "Now, are you gonna stand there and gape or are you going to keep going?"

Kagome closed her mouth and walked faster to catch up to InuYasha. Behind her Sango and Miroku watched, both of them smiling a bit.

"What just happened?" Shippo asked, bouncing up on Sango's shoulder.

"I think InuYasha just did something right for once," Sango said, smirking.

"I would have to agree, my dearest Sango," Miroku added, following the hanyou and miko up in front.

Up in front, Kagome sighed once more.

"You didn't answer my question," InuYasha stated, not looking over to Kagome.

"Huh?"

"My question. What's wrong?"

"Oh, _that _question," Kagome said, sighing again. "It's just, I'm getting a really bad feeling. Like we're going to regret this."

"Regret what?"

Kagome sighed some more. "Going to fight Naraku."

"Oh."

The two were silent for a while, until InuYasha said, "Well, we're still going to fight Naraku. I'll protect you from whatever happens."

"I know that we're going to still fight him... I just can't shake this feeling," Kagome complained, hugging herself.

InuYasha frowned, suddenly realizing that he had been feeling that same thing lately. It was like dread and fear of what was going to come. He clenched his fist and furrowed his brow.

InuYasha was brought out of his thoughts by a sudden gasp.

"What?" InuYasha said urgently, turning to Kagome.

"There's no moon tonight!" Kagome whispered to InuYasha with wide eyes. It took a couple seconds for that fact to sink in for InuYasha. He turned to look at the sun's position and thought there may be about an hour or two of the day still left.

InuYasha turned around to address the rest of their group.

"We're going to travel farther into the forest, okay?" InuYasha shouted back to them.

Sango leaned over towards Miroku a bit and said to him, "Houshi-sama, what's wrong? Is there something the matter?"

Miroku thought for a moment as they followed the other two into the forest. "Ah! Tonight is the night of the new moon. Obviously InuYasha had forgotten, like the rest of us. We better be extra alert tonight, Sango."

"Y-yeah," Shippo said, popping up on Miroku's shoulder and shivering a little bit.

"Shippo, are you afraid?" Sango asked, smiling a little bit.

"N-no..." Shippo denied, shaking his head madly.

Suddenly, Kirara popped up behind him and meowed loudly in his ear, which sent Shippo into a screaming fit and toppling off of Miroku's shoulder. Miroku, in turn, started laughing so hard that he fell to his knees.

InuYasha turned around with an expression that made 'angry' look like 'exuberant.'

"Will you morons quit messing around and get going?" InuYasha shouted, causing Miroku to cease laughing.

"Oh, lighten up a bit. We'll be fine," Miroku said, getting up and walking towards his furry-eared friend. Walking up next to InuYasha and putting a hand on his shoulder, Miroku said, "Since you're so eager to get going, I suppose we should, then?"

InuYasha growled and turned around abruptly, walking quickly to an area of the forest that was a bit more crowded with trees then the rest of the forest. "Let's make camp here," InuYasha said, dropping Kagome's bag next to a rock.

"I'll go get firewood," Sango said. Shippo agreed to help and followed closely behind her.

Once the two of them left, InuYasha sat by a tree, bouncing his leg impatiently. He didn't notice Kagome leave, but he noticed when she came back. "Where's Sango-chan?" Kagome asked, bursting in through the forest.

"She still hasn't come back from getting firewood," Miroku answered.

"No, I'm here," Sango said, carrying a bundle of sticks in her arms. Shippo walked next to her and set his sticks on the ground in a pile. "What did you want, Kagome-chan?"

"I found a hot spring! Do you want to take a bath?" asked Kagome.

Sango smiled and nodded, setting down her firewood. "Miroku, can you make the fire for us?"

"Well, I will if you let me join you," commented the monk.

"You wish," Sango said, throwing a stick at Miroku's head.

The two girls went off towards the spring to take their much needed baths.

- - -

"Those girls are sure taking a long time," InuYasha said angrily. He wasn't feeling very good now that he was human. He tapped his claw-less fingernails against his knee and looked around. "Hey... WHERE DID MIROKU GO?" roared InuYasha. He stood up and started to run towards where the girls were bathing.

Once he was almost there, he slowed and started to try not to see or be seen. Cursing not being able to smell anything, he looked around to try and find the monk. Unexpectedly, he was pulled down by his sleeve and a fabric covered hand went over his mouth. Miroku 'shh'ed InuYasha as he fell to the ground.

Miroku lifted his hand from InuYasha's mouth. InuYasha glared and whispered, "What was that for?"

"You don't want to be caught, do you?" Miroku asked. "Besides, if Kagome-sama were to catch you in this state, imagine how much it would hurt to be sat." InuYasha winced at the thought.

"Fine. But I'm here to bring you back," InuYasha said, grabbing Miroku's ear.

"And what makes you think you can do that?" Miroku whispered, smirking.

InuYasha smirked back. "If I do get sat as a human, when I go back to normal, I'll give you back the pain 100 fold." It was Miroku's turn to wince this time.

"Well... Naaw," Miroku said, turning back to where the girls were.

InuYasha groaned and pushed Miroku from behind, sending him toppling down the hill to where the girls were bathing. InuYasha quickly ran away, as to not get hurt by Kagome.

Though, InuYasha doubted that Kagome could hurt him as much as Miroku was getting hurt at the moment.

_Chapter End_

* * *

He he he. This is basically a filler chapter. I like this one. 


	3. The Beginning of the End

I didn't get to work on the chapter yesterday. I was so tired, and I wasn't even here half of the day. I'm still sort of tired, but I'm gonna get to work on this.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Three: The Beginning of the End**

_We were so close to getting Naraku, but the whole group was starting to feel dread. I could tell, even if they didn't voice their feelings. But, we would soon learn that the dread that we had all been feeling, wasn't a fluke. It was something to be feared, and we would fear it soon enough._

- - -

"We're almost there," InuYasha said, leading the group. The night was over and InuYasha was at his full strength again. They had been walking for only about an hour, but they all felt anticipation. Shippo was on Kagome's shoulder, shaking a little bit out of fear, but looking very determined. But no one looked as determined as InuYasha.

They reached a cliff that went down into a deep valley below, filled with miasma. There was some miasma in liquid form, but mostly, it was just a bunch of gas.

Sango handed out some extra masks to the group, to protect themselves from the miasma. Even InuYasha put one on, after a little persuasion from Kagome.

InuYasha, with Kagome riding piggyback, jumped down with Miroku, Sango, and Shippo following on Kirara. Kagome gripped InuYasha's shoulders as they fell through the air, picking up speed the farther they went. InuYasha slowed down a bit by spreading out, and he landed on a rock jutting out of the cliff wall, making it easier for him to land when they reached the bottom.

InuYasha landed on a tall rock that stood in the middle of a river of miasma. Kirara flew next to him and floated in the air, letting the group check the place out.

"The miasma is so strong here. I can still smell it through the mask," Sango said, pushing the mask up a little bit.

Kagome turned her head suddenly and said, "I sense the sacred jewel. It's over that way." Kagome pointed to the left and felt InuYasha tighten his grip around her legs.

"Let's go," InuYasha ordered. The others nodded and InuYasha jumped over the river and towards where Kagome had pointed.

Everyone besides InuYasha got their weapons ready, waiting for the fight that they knew was going to come.

"Naraku!" InuYasha shouted, seeing a figure in the distance. "You better not hide from me any longer!"

A dark and evil laugh came out from the miasma's fog. "So, you've come, InuYasha," Naraku said, his voice sounding amused.

"Yeah! And we're gonna defeat you!" InuYasha yelled out.

Another amused laugh. "You haven't killed me yet. What makes you think that you can do it now?"

"We could say the same to you!" InuYasha shot back, tightening his grip around Kagome's legs. The group ran towards the figure that they new was Naraku, and soon enough, the miasma cleared so they could see him.

The group got ready to battle and InuYasha yanked out his sword, it transforming into it's diamond form.

Kagome pulled back an arrow and fired it at Naraku; the arrow disintegrated through the barrier. "Ah! My arrow can't go through!" Kagome said, surprised. Though, she should have expected it.

"Don't worry Kagome," InuYasha said with a smirk, holding his Tessaiga out in front of him. "I'll take care of him."

InuYasha pulled up his sword and yelled out, "Kongousouha!" Bringing the Tessaiga down, the diamond spears flew through the air and destroyed Naraku's barrier, and also hurt Naraku with it.

"Damn you," Naraku muttered, moving out of the way from the rest of the attack. Naraku sent out his tentacles towards each member of their group, but they were cut off by Sango's Hiraikotsu.

Miasma started to pour from the cut limbs, and Kagome's eyes started to water. "It's so strong!" she said, moving out of the way from a stream of miasma running over the ground.

"Fools," Naraku said, laughing a bit. "It would be dangerous to do that again."

Kagome pulled back another arrow and shot it through two of the tentacles. "Oh, yeah?" The limbs turned to ash, as did any miasma near it.

Naraku smirked and sent out twice as many tentacles. The group tried to fight them off without cutting them, but the only one able to keep destroying them was Kagome.

Getting fed up, InuYasha ran over to Naraku, his sword ready.

Naraku blocked InuYasha, but InuYasha kept attacking. Kagome, getting caught up in watching, didn't notice the attack that was getting sent straight towards her.

"Kagome!" Miroku yelled out, running towards the miko. Kagome turned her head, and saw a tentacle heading straight towards her back.

Blood splattered onto the ground as Kagome was pierced with the limb. Miasma seeped into Kagome's body and she let out a small gasp. She couldn't even scream; the only thing she could do was try to breathe.

InuYasha had seen the whole thing, and sent a blow of his Kongousouha into Naraku's face. The attack ripped Naraku to shreds, but not before he could piece himself together a little bit and transport himself to a safe spot.

Slowly, the miasma started to clear up around them, but InuYasha didn't notice. He ran over to Kagome, who still had part of the tentacle in her back. InuYasha picked her up and tried to touch the limb in her back.

"InuYasha!" Miroku shouted at him, running over. "Don't remove it! If you do, her bleeding will become worse."

"What about the miasma that's going into her?" InuYasha yelled back. InuYasha took off his kimono top and pulled the severed limb out of Kagome's back. Instantly, her bleeding worsened, but InuYasha tied the red shirt around Kagome's wound to help stop the bleeding. Then, noticing that Kagome's mask had been cut, InuYasha took off his own and put it over her mouth.

"I'll take her to the nearest village," InuYasha said, his voice now clear from removing the mask.

Not waiting for a reply, InuYasha bounded off, holding Kagome carefully to not to make her injury worse, but also going as fast as he could.

"We need to follow him," Sango said, running up to Miroku and looking towards where InuYasha left.

Miroku nodded. "In a minute, though. I am going to see if there's anything important that Naraku left behind in the rush," said the monk, turning and scanning the area carefully. Shippo and Kirara started to get ready to leave, picking up Kagome's bow and arrow in the process.

"Ready, Houshi-sama?" Sango said, hopping on Kirara's back with Shippo.

"Yes. Though, I can't help but notice but sense a strange aura," said Miroku, getting on Kirara also. Kirara jumped into the air and followed InuYasha's trail towards a village.

"What kind of aura, Houshi-sama?" Sango asked, turning her head back slightly to see him.

"It's not any sort of youki, so it's not a youkai. But it has an evil feel to it," Miroku explained.

"I wonder what that means?" Shippo piped in, looking at the monk carefully.

Miroku sighed. "Well, I noticed it a little bit when Naraku was there, but the presence seemed to go away a few minutes after Naraku left. I don't understand it."

"Do you think...?" Sango started, but she stopped, not wishing to finish her thought.

"What is it, Sango?" Miroku asked.

Sango shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Just a stupid thought," explained the exterminator, not wanting to think of the possibility.

- - -

The exterminator, monk, and kitsune all jumped off of the cat when she landed in the village. They found InuYasha sitting in front of a hut, his white haori covered with blood. He hardly noticed his friends' arrival.

"InuYasha," Miroku said, causing InuYasha's head to pop up. "Where's Kagome?"

InuYasha jabbed a thumb towards the hut he was leaning against. "They won't let me in there. I'm pretty sure that they think _I_ was the one who did that to her."

"Are you sure that they won't let you in because they have to take Kagome's clothes off?" Sango asked, putting her hands on her hips. InuYasha blushed. Obviously he hadn't thought of that.

InuYasha shook his head anyway. "No, they were whispering about that inside. They do think that I was the one who hurt her," InuYasha said, his ears drooping.

"Well, I'm going to go in there," Sango said, going through the door.

Inside, Sango saw Kagome laying on a futon, her chest bandaged up from her arm pits to her waist. She was laying on her back, so more pressure would be applied to the wound. Even though Kagome was on her back, Sango could see the blood that had soaked onto the bedding and through the bandages. The rest of Kagome was covered with a blanket from the hips down.

"Who are you?" asked one of the village healers. The woman was long and lanky, and had long hair that reached her hips.

"I am Kagome's friend," Sango said, pointing to the unconscious miko on the futon. "My name is Sango... I was wondering how Kagome was doing?"

The village healer shook her head and sighed. "The injury is very bad... Tell me, was it that youkai outside that did this to her?"

"NO!" Sango shouted, obviously angry. "InuYasha would never hurt a human! Much less Kagome! Kagome has to be his best friend, I would say."

"Oh, dear. Really?" the woman asked, putting a hand to her mouth. "Well, I suppose he was right then. He was telling the truth when he said it was another youkai who did this to her?" Sango nodded. "Well, I suppose you should tell him that he can come in."

Sango smiled, though it wasn't real, and poked her head outside the door. "InuYasha," Sango cooed, "you can come in now."

InuYasha stood up and walked through the door, glaring at the two healers before glancing at Kagome. Upon seeing her, he froze, looking shocked at her condition, or maybe shocked at the fact the only thing covering her was a bunch of cloth wrapped around her to stop the bleeding.

Getting over her state of being, InuYasha walked over to her and sat down next to her, his arms and legs crossed. Miroku and Shippo walked in, both of them having expressions like InuYasha's. Shocked, sad, worried.

"There was something strange that we found," the second healer said, walking towards the group and sitting down. She had short brown hair and was sort of short as well. The first healer sat next to her, making the other one look even shorter.

"What was it?" Miroku asked, worried.

The short healer cleared her throat and said, "Well, we found something in her body. It's a sort of jewel of some sort."

"A jewel?" Shippo asked, turning his head to the side.

The short woman nodded. "Yes. It's in her wound. We didn't want to take it out in fear that she may start bleeding more, or that it was dangerous."

"We can show it to you," the tall healer said, standing up and walking over to Kagome. InuYasha watched her kneel down next to him, and the rest of the group gathered around Kagome's unconscious body.

InuYasha felt his face heat up as the woman turned Kagome on her side and started to pull the bandages off of her back.

Soon, Kagome's bare back was exposed, the wound still fresh and red. But near the surface of her skin and inside the wound, sat a blueish purple jewel, glowing with a black light. It was slightly bigger than the sacred jewel, and it was a darker color than the tainted Shikon Jewel that Naraku had.

Miroku looked at it carefully and said, "That's the aura that I was sensing before!"

Suddenly InuYasha realized something. His eyes widened and he shook his head. "No... That was just some stupid legend from Kagome's time!"

"What?" Shippo asked for them all, bouncing up on InuYasha's knee. The healers slowly started to cover up the wound.

"That jewel..." InuYasha said, looking at it once more. "It's the Bachiatari Jewel."

_End Chapter_

* * *

:)


	4. Awakening

He he he. That last chapter was fun to write... Well, not the beginning. The ending was fun.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Four: Awakening**

_Having that happen to me... That probably had to be one of the worst experiences in my life. Well, at the time. After the Jewel was put into my body... I felt like nothing would be the same again._

_- - -_

"She's still got a fever," the tall healer said, putting a cloth dripping with cold water on Kagome's forehead.

It had been two days, and Kagome hadn't woken up once since they found the Bachiatari Jewel in Kagome's back. The wound that she had received had healed quite a bit, but the Jewel was still stuck.

InuYasha hadn't left Kagome's side once since he had been allowed inside the hut. He would turn around every time the healers had to change her bandages, though... But when no one was around, InuYasha had tried to take out the jewel. He could touch it, but it tried to repel him. Though, he couldn't pull it out. Shippo also tried to pull out the jewel, and even though the jewel didn't repel him, Shippo couldn't pull it out either.

Another time that InuYasha was left alone in the hut with Kagome's unconscious body, he started to talk to her.

"You're really starting to worry me, you know. I need you to wake up... Please?" InuYasha said, his eyes closed and voice filled with worry.

Kagome's eyes seemed to tighten and she spoke, her voice weak. "Inu... Yasha...?"

"Kagome?" The hanyou sat up and leaned towards Kagome, his eyes wide.

But he got no answer. She was asleep once more.

- - -

"InuYasha's really worried, isn't he?" Sango asked the monk. They were outside, sitting on a hill overlooking the village.

"Huh?" Miroku said, being pulled out of his thoughts. He looked at Sango and blinked his eyes a couple times.

"InuYasha's worried about Kagome, right?" Sango said again.

"Oh. Yeah, he is..." Miroku said sadly.

Sango looked at Miroku sadly and said to him, "What's the matter? What are you thinking about, Houshi-sama?"

Miroku straightened up and looked at Sango carefully. "Well, I was thinking about what I would do if that was you unconscious in that hut," Miroku said, smiling a little bit. "I guess I would be acting a lot like InuYasha is right now."

"Oh, Houshi-sama..." Sango said, her voice sad and her eyes strangely happy. But, as quickly as it came, her expression left to be replaced with an angry one. "OOohh! You pervert!" Sango yelled out, standing and slapping Miroku's cheek.

Miroku sighed and said, "Your slaps pain me, Sango."

"Not as much as your antics pain me!" Sango yelled out, walking towards the village.

Shippo popped up next to Miroku and glared at him. "You're pretty stupid," Shippo said angrily.

"No, I'm just predictable," Miroku replied to the kitsune.

"I still say you're stupid."

- - -

Sango walked into the hut that Kagome was staying in and looked over to InuYasha. "How's she doing?" Sango asked.

"She's not doing worse than before," InuYasha said. He didn't want to tell Sango about how she had woken up for a few seconds and had said his name. Though, InuYasha figured that when Kagome did really wake up, she wouldn't remember that.

"Well, I guess no news is good news," Sango said, taking a seat next to InuYasha.

"I guess," InuYasha muttered.

Sango looked over to Kagome, who was breathing evenly now. "What's her temperature?"

"Her fever has gone down a bit, but not much."

Sango sighed. "This isn't good... But, you never told us how you knew about the jewel in Kagome-chan's back," Sango said, glancing over to InuYasha. It just so happened that Miroku and Shippo just happened to walk in at that exact moment.

"Are you talking about that jewel?" Miroku asked, taking a seat near the foot of Kagome's bed.

Sango nodded and said, "InuYasha was just going to tell me how he knew about it, right?"

InuYasha raised an eyebrow and glared. "I never said any such thing."

"Just tell us," Shippo said, obviously not wanting to deal with the hanyou.

InuYasha growled. "Fine..."

"It was when I went to Kagome's time. She dragged me to this stupid festival, where they told the story of the Bachiatari Jewel... The old man telling the story said that the jewel made a horrible youkai, and that it killed a bunch of people... And then some warrior killed it," InuYasha said sadly. It was obvious that he had been thinking about that story for a while. "But I'm not gonna let anyone kill Kagome."

"We wouldn't want to either, InuYasha, but what if she does kill people? What if we have to take her life to stop her from destroying lives?" Miroku said, his usually cheerful voice traded for a serious one.

Shippo's eyes welled up with tears. "B-but... I don't want Kagome-chan to die..."

InuYasha growled and glared at Miroku. "Listen, _monk_, no one is going to kill Kagome, and she's not going to kill anyone either. I'll see to that," InuYasha spat, his fists clenched at his side.

Miroku sighed. "I know that you want to protect Kagome, and I want the same... But we must be realistic here. This may be out of our abilities. We might not be able to stop this without going to drastic measures. But we will try everything that we can before we try that."

"Besides, InuYasha, that story may have been spiced up to make it sound scarier than it really is. Maybe we have nothing to worry about," Sango suggested, trying to make InuYasha feel better.

"Keh," InuYasha said, looking back to Kagome. _If that jewel did nothing, though... Why would Naraku go to so much trouble to put it in Kagome's body?_

- - -

InuYasha watched over Kagome later that night, like he had every night that they had been there. He hadn't gone to sleep once.

The hanyou's eyes started to feel heavy, but he managed to keep them open. He was obviously tired, but he wouldn't let himself fall asleep, or even _look_ tired.

"Man, Kagome... You sure do sleep a long time," InuYasha whispered, an ironic smile on his lips.

"And you sleep like a dog..." A voice suddenly said, startling InuYasha. He looked down to see Kagome with her eyes half open and a pained smile on her face.

"Kagome?" InuYasha shouted, waking up the whole hut.

"How long was I asleep?" Kagome asked, noticing her strange surroundings.

"Two and a half days," InuYasha said, noticing how she was taking in her surroundings. "I brought you to a healer's hut."

Kagome giggled softly and asked, "Did you kill anyone to bring me here?"

The question surprised InuYasha and he answered, "No... But there was one awfully annoying woman who wouldn't let me in here at first... She thought I was the one who hurt you!"

"Kagome-chan!" Shippo shouted, bouncing over to her futon. He hugged her arm, as the others walked over and started to talk to her. They voiced how afraid they were for Kagome, and Kirara curled herself up next to Kagome's side.

Remembering Kagome's injury, InuYasha interrupted everyone else by saying, "Kagome, there's something important I have to tell you."

"What is it, InuYasha?" Kagome said, her expression changing to one of worry when seeing the hanyou's face.

InuYasha looked at the floor. "It seems that Naraku's real intention wasn't to just hurt you... He wanted to put the Bachiatari Jewel in your body," InuYasha explained.

Kagome's eyes widened and she asked him, "You mean the one from the legend?" InuYasha nodded. "Oh... Well, I suppose he managed to do that... Could you get it out?"

InuYasha sighed. "No. But Miroku was sensing an evil aura from it."

"You know what?" Sango said, holding up her finger. "Since InuYasha and Shippo couldn't get it out, I'm wondering if only someone with great spiritual powers can get the jewel out?"

"Then why doesn't Kagome-chan just pull it out?" Shippo asked.

Miroku shook his head. "I'm sure Naraku has all ready thought of that. He probably made sure that the jewel could not be taken out by the one who it was put into. We should probably go and find someone who has great spiritual powers," Miroku explained.

"Why don't you try, Miroku-sama?" Kagome suggested.

"No... I can't even get close enough without feeling extremely weak," Miroku said, sighing. "I already tried."

Kagome's face went to one of sadness to one of determination. "Well... Once I'm better, we'll leave."

"To where?" Shippo asked.

"To find a spiritually powerful human, stupid," InuYasha huffed, glaring at the kitsune.

"Shut up, idiot!"

_End Chapter_

* * *

Well, you can guess what's gonna happen next chapter! I best take a break before writing it, though. It's almost midnight.


	5. Eyes of White

Ah, a new chapter. It's nice to be early when you're doing the chapters... Nothing like being early, listening to your iPod (J-Pop), and eating instant ramen to write an InuYasha fan fiction well. Or... something like that.

**

* * *

**

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Five: Eyes of White**

_So, we were to set off. Back then, I didn't realize how serious this whole thing was. I was just happy to get rid of it. So happy. I didn't really start to feel horribly sad until later... Though, I would have to change myself... This horrible curse didn't just change my body, it changed my soul._

_- - -_

About three days later the group decided that Kagome was well enough to travel, but they still made sure to go at a slower pace so they wouldn't aggravate her wound. Kagome slept a lot, but InuYasha always made sure to hold onto her tightly.

Later in the day, Kagome woke up and looked off into the distance. "InuYasha," Kagome said, poking the back of the hanyou's head, "I think I sense a strong spiritual aura." Kagome's voice was just loud enough for the other's to hear.

"I sense it, too," Miroku said, looking in the same direction as Kagome.

"Well, that's the way that we're gonna go, then," InuYasha said, turning the group to follow the way Miroku and Kagome thought the person was.

After a fairly short time traveling, the group reached a large, bustling village. Not many people noticed when InuYasha and the other demons walked through the village, which was a relief.

InuYasha wouldn't let Kagome down, so she wouldn't re-injure herself. Though, she had to scratch her back really badly.

Soon enough, they found themselves in front of a huge shrine. The group walked inside and found themselves looking at a really big room inside the really big shrine. In the back of the room was another door, and they all walked towards it. Once outside that door, almost everyone gasped.

In the shrine courtyard was a beautiful pond in the middle of it; next to the pond was a single sakura tree, the blossoms falling off it elegantly. Kagome turned her head to the right and saw a beautiful priestess sitting on the floor, meditating.

"Um... Excuse me..." Kagome said shyly. The woman looked up towards them and smiled. Her black hair was long, and flowed freely. Her eyes were a bluish color and seemed bright and happy.

"Yes?" the miko asked, her voice soft and delicate.

Miroku asked the question first. "Will you bear my children?"

"PERVERT!" Sango shouted out, hitting him in the back of the head with her Hiraikotsu.

Kagome groaned and walked up to the miko sitting on the floor, looking quite shocked. "I'm sorry about him. Anyway, what I wanted to ask, is if you could try to take care of something?"

The priestess nodded and said, "What do you need taken care of? It must be something very powerful if you were to ask me to help you with something... If I'm not mistaken, you're a miko as well?"

Kagome nodded and said, "I'm not trained, though. Anyway, I need you to take out a jewel that a demon put in my back. My friends tried to take it out, but they had no luck... Even the monk, who you met," Kagome glared at Miroku, "couldn't even get close to it. So, we figured that someone with great spiritual powers could help."

The miko smiled and stood up. "Why don't you just sit there, so I can get the jewel out?" Kagome sat. "Now, where is it?"

"My back."

The woman walked over to Kagome's back and sat down behind the unfortunate girl. The miko lifted up Kagome's shirt which caused Miroku to grin widely and InuYasha to blush a little bit.

"This jewel is powerful," the miko said, her hand heading towards the jewel. Kagome's wound wasn't fully healed, but the Bachiatari Jewel was still visible.

Her hand seemed to be passing through an invisible barrier; she struggled to move her hand towards the jewel.

"Just a little more..." said the miko, her fingers just millimeters away from the jewel.

"Why is she having so much trouble?" Shippo asked InuYasha.

He shrugged and replied, "Maybe it's because humans aren't supposed to touch it? It sort of hurt when I touched it..."

Just when InuYasha finished speaking, the woman barely touched the jewel. A bright light shone from the place of contact, and the miko screamed. Immense pain flew through her body, reaching every part of her body. She screamed so loudly that her voice went hoarse.

After the light went away, the miko was thrown back as far as she could be before hitting a wall, and Kagome was thrown forward a little bit. The miko was leaning against the wall that she hit, her head not visible. Tears fell onto the floor of the shrine, and the miko started to crawl over to the pond.

"W-what just happened?" Shippo asked, looking around. The force of the light had pushed him to the ground as well.

"Is she all right?" Sango asked, taking a few steps towards the miko crawling towards the pond.

The miko reached the pond and looked at her reflection in the surface of the water. Somehow she managed to let out another scream on seeing her face.

Miroku took a few steps toward the miko as well. "What--?"

The miko turned around, her eyes now a milky white and her face horribly disfigured. Her shaky hands touched different places on her face as tears rolled over huge lumps that appeared near her eyes. Her jaw was a little crooked and her lower lip looked like it couldn't go up straight. One eye looked like it had been punched and had a huge lump over it, too. Not to mention all the scars on her face.

The woman turned around so the others couldn't see her face anymore. "I... I can't... I can't see!" the miko shouted, even more tears falling to the ground.

The miko knelt on the ground and muttered to the group, "Please... Just leave..."

So they did.

Kagome was in a state of shock, and InuYasha had to lead her out of the shrine so she wouldn't walk into anything and hurt herself.

Once they were a ways from the location of the strange incident, Kagome thought out loud, "What just happened?"

"I don't know..."

Kagome sighed and said to the group, "Not that you'd want to, but I don't want _anyone_ to try and take this jewel out anymore... Okay? We'll figure out a different way."

"I can't help but wonder, though," Miroku started, putting a finger on his chin, "what could that jewel possibly do?"

"I don't know if I want to know," Kagome said, glaring straight ahead. Well, she did _sort of_ want to know, but not really. Obviously she would be a bit curious.

Sango sighed and said, "Well, let's hope that we don't find out the hard way."

"Is anything ever that easy?" asked the kitsune.

- - -

Deciding that it wasn't really safe to stay in that village, the group left to go stay somewhere else, like the middle of the woods. Even though the girls and Miroku wanted to stay in a bed, they all agreed that it was too dangerous for them to stay, with the whole thing with the priestess and all.

The group had no idea what to expect. They had no leads on Naraku, and they didn't know anything about the Bachiatari Jewel or the Shikon Jewel, so they decided to go towards Kaede's village to rest up a bit.

Their rest would be short-lived, though.

* * *

I won't be here tomorrow, so I may not be able to work on my chapters... Sorry that this is a short chapter. 

Edit: Okay, I will be here tomorrow. We had a really bad storm so we can't leave. My mom figures that it's going towards our destination.


	6. You're Next

So, another chapter for another day! Yay! OOH! I love this chapter so much. It was so fun to write... I want to do some fan art of it... xD Yeah... That'd be fun. Very fun.

You guys are gonna hate me. :)

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Six: You're Next**

_It's not like I didn't want that jewel out of my back, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Though, my attempts to protect everyone else was in vain. Though, at the time, we had no idea of the power that the Bachiatari Jewel held._

- - -

"So, Naraku put a jewel in your back?" Kaede asked Kagome, who was eating some ramen.

Kagome nodded. "It's the Bachiatari Jewel."

Kaede's eyebrows arched towards her nose and she frowned. "I'm sorry to say that I know nothing about it. The name doesn't even sound familiar," explained the old woman, standing up.

Kagome sighed. "Figures as much... I didn't think that you'd know anything about it, though. It seems like no one has even heard of it."

"Usually legends and stories travel through the villages and towns, but I've never heard anything about this," Kaede mused, looking into the fire in her hut and sticking another piece of wood on it.

Kagome sighed again and said to Kaede, "Well, thank you anyway... I better get back to my time. I've got a test and somehow we ran out of ramen... I thought I brought enough."

Kagome left Kaede to think some more about the jewel, but nothing came to mind.

- - -

"Stupid girl! Where could she be? She knows that she was supposed come back a day ago!" InuYasha shouted, tapping his claws against the side of the well.

"Sit!" InuYasha's face hit the ground, sending dirt and grass flying up into the air.

"Dammit..." muttered the hanyou, pushing himself up after the spell wore off. He turned to see Kagome climbing out of the well and shouted, "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THAT?"

"It's one thing to insult me to my face, but it's another to insult me behind my back!" Kagome shouted back, throwing her backpack over the top of the well and getting out of it. She walked over to her giant bag and managed to pick it up. Kagome started to walk towards the village, and InuYasha followed, a bit miffed from the sitting he had just endured.

InuYasha sighed and took Kagome's bag from her. "Huh?"

"It looks heavy," InuYasha said, carrying it with one strap over his shoulder.

Kagome smiled and said, "Thanks."

She turned around and walked towards the village, her back towards InuYasha. He looked at the spot where the jewel was, and where the still healing wound had been put. The wound didn't open up any more, but she still needed the bandage around her back.

Kagome hadn't told her family about the wound. She didn't want to worry them. But, she had asked them and other people about something else. Kagome sighed.

"What's with you?" InuYasha asked, walking up next to Kagome.

She groaned and said to him, "I asked countless people about the Bachiatari Jewel, and no one knew a thing about it! I even asked the old man at the shrine, but he didn't know anything other than that story that we heard."

"Oh," InuYasha said, looking at the passing trees.

Kagome sighed once more and looked at the ground. "What's going to happen, InuYasha?"

"Why are you asking me?" InuYasha growled, glaring at Kagome out of the corner of his eye.

"You're always so sure about things... You can make me believe that everything will turn out all right," Kagome explained, turning her head towards InuYasha. "That's why I asked."

InuYasha started to feel fidgety under Kagome's gaze. "Well... I guess that I'm not really sure about anything right now."

"Oh," replied Kagome, crushed by InuYasha's words.

InuYasha glared. "That doesn't mean 'I can't help you!'" shouted the hanyou. "I said I'll protect you, and I will!" That brought a smile to Kagome's face.

"Okay."

- - -

Later that night, while the group was eating their dinner, a youkai attacked the village.

"RUN!"

"YOUKAI!"

"MY BABY!"

Villagers scattered and the Inu-tachi stood their ground, getting ready for the youkai to attack them. Kagome, still favoring the wound in her back, stood behind the others to make sure that she wouldn't get hurt again. But, that wasn't a problem since she fights with bows and arrows.

The youkai was tall and had claws the size of houses and teeth of equal size. He stood well over the trees and had purple skin with green hair, and blood red eyes. The youkai roared in a deep voice and took a step towards the group, who scattered, getting ready to fight.

Sango sent her Hiraikotsu hurtling towards the youkai's hands, but he knocked it away with his claws. Miroku threw oofudas at the demon from Kirara's back, each of them causing the youkai to burn and smoke to rise from his skin.

Kagome's arrows were powerful, but they didn't do much damage to the youkai; he was just too strong.

InuYasha had his diamond Tessaiga out, and kept slashing away at the youkai, causing it to roar in pain. The youkai pulled back one of his massive hands and sent it flying towards InuYasha's body. InuYasha dodged, narrowly missing the huge claws.

"This is taking too long!" InuYasha shouted, bringing up his sword and readying for attack. "Kongousouha!" InuYasha shouted; he brought his sword down and the diamond spears from his sword sliced through the youkai.

The youkai roared and looked really angry. Well, of course he'd be angry, one of his giant arms just fell off, the blood splattering all over and soaking into the ground. He roared and sent the claws of his remaining arm towards InuYasha. He managed to pierce through InuYasha's stomach, causing the hanyou to black out.

"InuYasha!" Kagome screamed, running over to the hanyou. He was laying on his face, blood pooling around him. Though it was healing already, Kagome couldn't help but feel horribly worried. Though, her anger started to boil up, along with her sadness. And then, her anger reached a peak.

"Oh!" Kagome said, her eyes going wide and her gaze moving off into the distance.

- - -

Miroku grabbed for the beads covering his right hand. "No, Houshi-sama!" Sango shouted, running in front of the monk. "If you pull him in, I'm sure that those claws will widen the Kazaana!"

"I have to do something; InuYasha is in danger if we don't finish this soon and take care of him," Miroku fought back, looking at the youkai. "Wait... What's he looking at?"

Sango looked up at the youkai's face and followed his stare to InuYasha's unconscious body. Next to him was Kagome, sitting on her knees and her back towards the two humans and nekomata. Kirara growled lightly and took a defensive stance, while Sango and Miroku were watching Kagome carefully. Suddenly, the air seemed to pulse.

A dark aura formed around Kagome, and she turned towards the youkai who attacked the village. Her face was serious; Kagome's eyes looked like they could turn someone into stone.

Kagome's shirt bulged in the back, and then ripped, revealing two black wings, shaped like a bat's. They spread out and grew, almost becoming twice as tall as Kagome herself. Her fingernails grew into claws, and her teeth lengthened, becoming more like fangs. And her eyes became red and emotionless.

The one armed youkai took a step back from Kagome, but she took a step forward. Quickly, she jumped into the air, not even looking like it took any effort.

Her hand cupped so the claws on her fingers faced the demon, and she cut through the youkai's stomach, causing him to roar and slice at her with his own claws.

"Kagome-chan!" shouted Sango, taking a step forward. She turned to Miroku and said, "Houshi-sama! What's happening to Kagome-chan?"

"The Bachiatari Jewel! It took over Kagome's body! Her aura is replaced with the one of the jewel!" Miroku said, watching Kagome dodge the youkai's claws.

Kagome growled and flew into the air, flying above the youkai. With a flick of her fingers, huge spears of light flew towards the youkai and pierced him in multiple places.

And with one last slash of her claws, Kagome cut off the youkai's head.

The youkai's blood splashed all over, sending little streams across the ground.

"Kagome-chan?" Shippo asked, running over to the youkai's body. Kagome slowly stood up in the middle of the pool of blood, her red eyes glowing through the darkness. Her wings were folded back, and she stood on top of the corpse, sniffing the air carefully.

The villagers started to gather. "No!" Sango yelled, as they started to group together, the torches lighting the area.

Though there wasn't much light there, it was enough to see Kagome standing there, blood covering her body, head to toe. She grinned maliciously and held up a bloodied hand.

She started to laugh, her voice deep and dangerous sounding. Kagome's laugh sent shivers through everyone who heard it, and the villagers huddled closer together.

"K-Kagome?" Sango said, holding her hand out towards the transformed miko.

"What happened to her?" Shippo asked Miroku; his voice was hardly heard over Kagome's laughter.

Miroku just shook his head, his eyes wide.

Kagome looked out towards the villagers and scanned over them and said one thing that caused the whole town to run.

"You're next."

_End Chapter_


	7. Protective Embrace

I liked writing the last chapter. He he he. THE PLOT THICKENS. Oh, how it thickens, like pea soup. Or something else that thickens... Like some other type of soup. Ha ha ha!

Well, you've just got a TASTE of the plot, right there. Oh, yes. Yes, just a taste. Ha ha ha! Like soup.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Seven: Protective Embrace**

_This situation seemed all too familiar to me... And it should have. We went through the same thing with InuYasha. Though, this time I was the one transforming, and he wasn't. Actually, he was unconscious, but was not in life-threatening danger from his wound. But the more I think about it, the more it scares me._

_- - -_

The villagers all started to run away from where Kagome was standing, her bloodied claws held out for all to see. The wings that had come out from her back spread out and she laughed some more at seeing the humans frightened for their lives.

"What do we do?" Shippo shouted over the screams and jumping onto Miroku's shoulder.

"Whatever we do, we have to do it quick!" Sango shouted, clenching her fist. "Damn that Naraku! It's his fault!"

Shippo turned to Sango and let out a bewildered, "Huh?"

"The Bachiatari Jewel has taken over her body," Miroku explained. "There's a strange youki around her. Maybe a couple oofudas will transform her back to normal."

The monk reached into his sleeve and pulled out some of the charms and threw them at Kagome. Once they were thrown, through, her head turned to see them. She lifted up her left hand and slashed through the paper like a paper shredder.

"No!" Miroku shouted, gasping.

Sango glared and said, "We might have to knock her out." She lifted up her Hiraikotsu, which she had retrieved after it was knocked to the ground by the youkai who had attacked the village.

"You saw how she destroyed that youkai! You can't beat her!" Shippo shouted, shaking in fear.

"I have to try, or else she'll destroy more than just that youkai!" Sango yelled before charging toward Kagome. Kagome watched the exterminator as she spun the giant boomerang above her head, getting ready to attack Kagome. Sango swung hard towards Kagome's head, but Kagome ducked, smirking the whole time. Sango swung towards Kagome's feet, and Kagome jumped, and landed on the Hiraikotsu.

Kagome laughed once at seeing Sango's bewildered expression. One of Sango's hidden weapons ripped through her clothing as she tried to hit Kagome with that, getting angry. Kagome looked surprised for a second, but brought her hand up to grab the weapon before it hit her.

Sango gasped when Kagome grabbed a hold of the blade; blood started to drip down from Kagome's hand, but Kagome didn't notice it.

"Annoying wench," Kagome said, smirking, before punching Sango in the cheek and sending her flying back towards Miroku.

"Sango!" Shippo shouted, jumping down from Miroku's shoulder and looking at Sango.

Miroku knelt down next to Sango as well and asked, "Are you all right?"

Sango wiped her cheek where Kagome punched her and pushed herself up with her arm. "I'm fine," replied the exterminator, glaring at Kagome. Then her eyes widened and she realized something. "I can't believe I actually tried to hurt Kagome."

"That's not Kagome," Miroku said, trying to comfort Sango.

She shook her head. "That's what Naraku wants us to think. He wants us to try to finish her off, even though we would be killed in the process. And no matter what, it's still Kagome," Sango said, glaring at Kagome still, but thinking about Naraku.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, wench, but you're pretty good. You made me bleed," Kagome said, taking a few steps forward and looking at her bleeding palm. "Too bad it's healing already."

"What?" Miroku said, his eyes wide.

Kagome smirked. "Keh. I'm a youkai, what do you expect?"

_Kagome a... youkai?_ Sango thought, her eyes wide. _Is this the power of the Bachiatari Jewel?_

"You're not a..." _cough! hack!_ "...youkai. You're a human," said a different voice. Kagome turned her said to see InuYasha standing up, blood trickling from his mouth. His wound had started to heal a little bit, but not much.

"What are you talking about, _hanyou_?" Kagome said, saying hanyou like it was a sin to be one. The tone of voice made InuYasha flinch, especially since it was Kagome's voice that was saying it.

InuYasha started to walk towards Kagome, causing her wings to flare out even more. She was warning him, but he wasn't paying attention. He continued to walk, though he wasn't moving very fast.

Kagome glared at InuYasha. "Do you wish to die, hanyou?"

"Kagome wouldn't hurt me intentionally," InuYasha replied, keeping his eyes locked with Kagome's.

That seemed to strike a nerve, and the youki around Kagome started to weaken. "Don't underestimate me."

InuYasha laughed dryly. "Don't worry. I haven't. But you're Kagome. Kagome has always tried to stop herself if she was ever controlled. She never wanted to hurt me," said the hanyou.

He was only a few feet away from Kagome now. "I said STAY BACK!" Kagome shouted, her wings flaring out even farther and her red eyes glowing.

"You never said that to Sango. Is it because you know that you're losing the battle with the real Kagome?"

"SHUT UP!" Kagome roared, clutching her head and shaking it. Her breathing became deep, and she suddenly started to struggle with her speech. "I-Inu... Yasha! I... I can't... control myself!" said Kagome, her voice not fierce anymore, but scared and kind.

"Yes you can, Kagome!" InuYasha shouted, only about a foot away from her.

Kagome continued to hold her head but moved it up so she could look at InuYasha. Her eyes were wide and scared, and their normal brown color.

"InuYasha..." Kagome said, before falling forward and fainting. InuYasha caught her and held her tightly. The black wings coming out of Kagome's back shrunk and disappeared into nothing, and it was like they were never there. The only thing that was proof that she had wings were the two long holes in her shirt where the wings had grown.

"I think she's back to normal..." InuYasha said, lifting Kagome up and cradleing her in his arms. _Or at least as close to normal as she could be._

- - -

Kagome groaned and brought her hands to her head, rubbing at her temples at a futile attempt to get rid of the horrible headache she had. That's what woke her up from her deep sleep. She was actually sleeping nicely, but she couldn't really remember fighting the demon last night.

_I remember InuYasha getting hurt... And then it's a little fuzzy right there... But I think InuYasha beat the demon... I must have passed out or something, _Kagome thought, rubbing her temples and sitting up. "Oh, this headache is really bad," Kagome said to herself, her eyes still shut from sleep.

She heard someone walk in the hut. Kagome opened her right eye to look at them, staring towards the door. InuYasha walked into the room, and his eyes widened when he saw her.

"Kagome?" InuYasha said, looking worried.

"Yeah, what is it?" Kagome asked. "Is anything wrong?"

InuYasha looked surprised. "You mean you don't remember?"

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Remember what?"

InuYasha looked afraid to tell her. "What?" Kagome said, panic evident in her voice. "Did something happen? Tell me! Did anyone get hurt? What about your wound? Are you okay?"

Kagome's questions had come so quickly that InuYasha could hardly sort them out. He sighed and sat down in front of her, crossing his legs and looking at her straight in the eyes. "Whatever I tell you... I want you to know that none of it was your fault, all right?" InuYasha said.

"What is that supposed to mean? What happened?"

InuYasha closed his eyes and sighed. Then he said, "Miroku and Sango told me that when you saw me unconscious, something happened with the Bachiatari Jewel..."

"What?"

InuYasha opened his eyes and glared at Kagome. "Don't interrupt me. It's hard enough to tell you this," InuYasha said. Kagome opened her mouth to reply, but closed it after seeing the look on InuYasha's face.

"Anyway, after you saw me, you... changed..." InuYasha saw the look on Kagome's face and elaborated. "You know how I transform when my life is in danger?" Kagome nodded. "You transformed. We don't know why, but you did. You fought off the demon, and killed him... And Miroku and Sango said that you did it pretty easily. But then you turned on the humans and said you were gonna kill them next."

Kagome's eyes were wide and she bit her lip disbelievingly. She shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to hold off the tears that threatened to fall.

"You fought with Sango, and she managed to cut you on your hand. Then I got up and managed to change you back, but you fell unconscious," InuYasha explained, his fists clenched on his lap.

"No..." Kagome whispered, a tear falling down her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at her palms, finding the cut that InuYasha had talked about. It was almost healed, though, from when Kagome had been transformed.

"You were a youkai Kagome," InuYasha said. Then, he pulled her into a tight embrace. Kagome's fears started to vanish, but InuYasha still held her, comforting her.

Kagome noticed something strange. With a free hand, she felt the back of her shirt and her eyebrows raised.

"InuYasha... Why is my shirt ripped?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha lifted his head up and looked into Kagome's face. "Oh! Yeah... You had wings."

Kagome's eyebrows raised even farther. "I had... wings?"

"Yeah. Wings."

"Wings."

"Yup."

"What kind of wings?"

"They looked kind of like a bat's wings... They were kind of cool, but sort of scary."

"Wings..."

InuYasha let go of Kagome and she wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes. InuYasha stood up and walked to the corner of the room, where a spare kimono was laying.

The hanyou brought the kimono to Kagome and said to her, "Kaede said that you might want to change into these. Your shirt is covered in blood."

"Thanks."

Before InuYasha left the hut, he turned to Kagome and said to her, "Don't worry, Kagome. I'm gonna help you."

InuYasha left the hut and Kagome whispered to herself, "I know."

_Chapter End_


	8. Something in Common

Well, I suppose that we'll be finding out stuff about the jewel soon! Yup.

Oh, and just so you know, a bunch of the transformation stuff was my friend's idea... But they still sound cool.

Sorry for the shortness of the chapter... -.-; Oh well.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Eight: Something in Common**

_Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. This had to be one of Naraku's worse tricks yet. He wasn't just messing with my body (not like that, you sick perverts), but he was ripping my emotions to shreds!_

- - -

Kagome had changed into the outfit that had been given to her and pulled her hair back. Sure, it made her look like Kikyou, but that didn't matter. She was too worried to think about that anyway.

The young miko walked outside and saw her friends talking quietly near the edge of the village. They were all in a circle, with InuYasha being the only one who could see Kagome from where she was.

She walked towards them and InuYasha looked up, his ears high on his head. The other's saw this and turned around to see Kagome, walking towards them.

Kagome sat down.

They were silent.

Miroku cleared his throat and then said, "So, InuYasha tells us that you can't remember a thing about transforming."

Kagome nodded, looking at the ground in front of her, finding the blades of grass very interesting.

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to find Naraku. If we find him, we might find some information, and if we beat him, the jewel in Kagome's back may disappear," Miroku said,

"I suppose that's our best bet," InuYasha said gruffly. He stood up and said, "Should ask around to find some rumors or something?"

Sango and Miroku nodded and stood up as well. Kagome pushed herself off the ground and sighed, pushing back her bangs before letting them fall back into her face. How was she supposed to deal with this?

"Kagome, you come with me," InuYasha ordered. Kagome didn't fight him, she didn't feel like it. The two groups, InuYasha and Kagome in one and everyone else in another, went their separate ways and started to ask around about any demons anyone may have heard of.

Kagome walked behind InuYasha, trying to stay hidden. Everyone was treading lightly around her or giving her dirty looks, everyone besides InuYasha. He was just acting normal.

After an hour of walking around, a woman walked up to Kagome, holding a basket of food items. She said to the young miko, "Kaede told me what happened to make you transform like that. I hope that you break the curse. Here, take these. You need them more than me."

Kagome took the basket of food and she smiled for the first time since she learned what happened. "Thanks a lot. You don't know how much this means to me."

The woman patted Kagome on the shoulder and left them alone, walking away from where InuYasha and Kagome were standing.

"Well, we aren't getting any information. Do you want to take a rest?" InuYasha asked. Kagome turned to him with her eyebrows raised.

"Why are you acting so nice?" Kagome asked, gripping the handle of the basket.

InuYasha frowned. "I am not acting any different from before."

"But you want to," Kagome said, walking to a nearby tree and sitting under it.

InuYasha growled. "It's just hard trying to deal with this stupid curse," InuYasha said.

Kagome scowled, replying, "How do you think I feel? I'm the one who has the curse!"

InuYasha shut up and walked over to the tree that Kagome was sitting at, and plopped down, crossing his legs and leaning back a bit. Sighing, he said, "Look, I know better than anyone else how hard it is. When I started transforming, everyone would look at me with fear and anger, like I was going to snap any minute. Even Sango and Miroku would look at me like that, even if they tried to hide it. The only one who wouldn't treat me any different was you... I guess I'm just trying to return the favor. Besides, I said I would protect you, and the only way I can protect you from the looks is by supporting you."

The smell of salt reached InuYasha's nose, and he saw Kagome crying. "Y-you're not sad, are you?" InuYasha said, alarmed. Kagome shook her head.

"I'm just glad that you're here for me," she said, smiling once more. She wiped the tears away with the sleeve of her kimono and picked up some of the food that was given to her. "Do you want some?"

InuYasha grabbed a random piece of food and bit into it, and Kagome did the same.

So they sat there, just enjoying each other's company.

Though, InuYasha was still trying to figure out why he had said all that stuff, and why it had made Kagome happy.

- - -

The decided that since they didn't get any information asking around town, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara would go to the next town over and ask around there. Sango suggested that Kagome go and get rest in her time, and InuYasha was to stay there and wait until Kagome got back. The inu hanyou had protested a little bit, but had ultimately agreed in the end.

Kagome jumped down the well with InuYasha following. Though she still had plenty of supplies, she had forgotten a couple things in her time anyway. And there was that big test that was coming up.

The two of them walked out of the well house and Kagome looked around her home, appreciating the feeling of safety that came with being here. Sure, cars and stuff were dangerous, but she knew how to handle them. Demons were another thing.

They walked inside, Kagome leading the way, and turned towards the kitchen. The young miko stopped, causing InuYasha to run into her.

"Hey! Why did you do that?" InuYasha shouted before looking at the people sitting in the kitchen.

Ms. Higurashi sat at the table with Jii-chan, both of them looking at Kagome carefully. Kagome was looking at her brother, who had a couple bruises on his face and a broken arm.

Kagome rushed over to her brother's side and asked, "Who did this?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," said Ms. Higurashi.

Souta glared and said, "And I've been saying that I fell."

"Souta, it's obvious to anyone who looks at those wounds that you didn't fall," Kagome said dryly.

InuYasha popped up next to Kagome and closest to Souta and started looking at the injuries. He pointed to one on his cheek and said, "That one was made by a fist. A boy, and he was a little bit older than you."

"You can tell all that by looking at a bruise?" Kagome said, standing up. She glared at the wound and said to Souta, "Who did this?"

"A boy in my class," muttered the child.

Kagome was shaking in anger. She walked outside and glared at the Go-Shinboku that was across from her. InuYasha walked outside after her and stood there, glaring.

"What was that all about?" InuYasha said. "Yeah, I'm mad too, but you don't have to storm out on your family!"

Kagome's voice shook as she spoke. "Y-yes I d-did."

InuYasha couldn't smell any tears coming from Kagome, but her voice sounded like she was crying... or maybe she was so angry that her voice shook?

Kagome started growling.

Just then, InuYasha knew why she needed to go outside. His eyes widened and he said, "Kagome! Snap out of it!"

Kagome turned her head towards him, her eyes now red and her teeth bared. She glared at him and then took off running, almost as fast as InuYasha could run himself. Though, he just stood there stupidly, gaping after her as she jumped up on top of some buildings, the wings in her back growing to huge proportions.

"Dammit!" InuYasha shouted, running after Kagome wildly.

_End Chapter_


	9. Explaining the Unexplainable

I love this story. He he. Though, the deadlines for it are sometimes hard to keep up with. See, I never really outlined the story. Oh well. I'll do as Rumiko Takahashi does, and wing it! At least I have all the basic ideas. I'm gonna have to start outlining this today or something. And early September (the 9th to be precise) I won't be able to update around then, because it's my birthday. Just thought I'd give you a head's up. I'll remind you all later, too. Anyway, time for the chapter!

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Nine: Explaining the Unexplainable**

_After transforming the first time, I could tell when I was going to transform, even though I don't remember anything that happened after it. It was vicious. I never knew when I was going to transform next, and my mind was constantly being put under stress. If only I could have known what caused it back then..._

- - -

InuYasha ran through the city, jumping on top of buildings to try and see Kagome. He saw flashes of black wings every so often, but he would lose sight of them as quickly as he found them. He scowled. "Dammit! What the hell is going on?" InuYasha yelled, mostly to himself.

His fist clenched at his side as he tried to sift through all the different scents. There were almost too many, but every so often, he would catch Kagome's scent, though now it was different.

"Where would she go?" InuYasha asked, stopping on top of a village and looking around, the wind whipping his hair to the side. _Wouldn't she go somewhere familiar?_

InuYasha suddenly realized where she was, or at least the best guess to where she could be. The hanyou darted towards Kagome's school.

As soon as he heard screaming, InuYasha knew that he had found her.

He jumped down and landed in front of the school, noticing all the people huddled near the front of the building. They were muttering things like "What is it?" and "Does she go to our school?" Kagome took a step towards them, grinning in pleasure. They were too afraid to move away from Kagome as she neared them.

InuYasha growled and his knuckles cracked. "Kagome!" he shouted, making Kagome stop and all the students turn to look at him.

"Kagome?" some people asked, and others said things like "Higurashi Kagome? The one who goes to this school?"

Kagome didn't turn around to look at InuYasha. Actually, she just ignored him.

"Kagome, look at me!" InuYasha yelled, walking forward.

The miko growled. "Stop." InuYasha took a step forward. Kagome growled more. "Stop!" The daring hanyou started to walk towards her, but slowly.

"I SAID STOP!" Kagome yelled, turning around and slashing through the air, causing three long gashes to appear on InuYasha's face. He winced was the blood started to trickle down to his chin, but he walked forward.

"She didn't even touch him!" a student whispered, his voice shaking a little bit.

InuYasha paid no attention to the blood that was now falling onto the ground; the corners of the wounds were starting to heal anyway.

Kagome took a step back, and held her claws towards the students, her wings flaring out a bit. "If you come any closer, I'll kill them all," Kagome said, just loud enough for the humans to hear. The students gasped and a couple screamed, but none of them moved, in fear that they would be killed sooner.

"You wouldn't do that, Kagome," InuYasha said stepping forward. Kagome's hand went closer to the humans, but she made no move to kill them.

Kagome glared. "How would you know? How do you know that I won't kill them, hanyou?"

"Because you're not a youkai! You're a human! You wouldn't kill your friends, Kagome! You've had enough strength to stop yourself from killing me plenty of times! This is no different!" InuYasha stood his ground and looked angry, but Kagome's face was starting to soften.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, hanyou! Being half human must have given you half a brain!" shouted Kagome, though you could tell her heart wasn't in it.

The students listened carefully, trying to understand if they heard right. The man with white hair, a hanyou? Kagome Higurashi thought she was a youkai, and had tried to kill the hanyou before? What was Kagome really doing while she was 'sick?' And were those real ears on top of the boy's head?

InuYasha seemed unaffected by the insult, but in reality it hurt. Especially coming from Kagome.

"You don't mean that," InuYasha said lowly.

Kagome didn't answer, but took a step closer to the students.

"Kagome!" InuYasha yelled, glaring. He was having a much harder time trying to get Kagome back to normal this time. InuYasha's face softened a little bit, and he sighed. He started walking normally towards Kagome, stopping whenever she took a step back. But then he would start walking again.

"What are you doing?" Kagome shouted, taking another step back. He was about a foot away from her now.

"This isn't you. You're not really a youkai, and you're not going to kill these people. You're a miko," InuYasha said, ignoring the clawed hand threatening to hurt him.

"No I'm n--!" Kagome's protests were cut off by InuYasha embracing her tightly. She glared and struck him through the stomach with her claws, but he grasped her tighter.

Slowly her wings shrunk back to nothing and Kagome's eyes changed from red to brown. The claws vanished, and she fell limp. Before falling into unconsciousness, Kagome muttered, "InuYasha..."

InuYasha fell to his knees at the sudden weight that Kagome had made him support, and once she was comfortably resting in his arms he sighed. InuYasha couldn't help but notice the sticky warm blood that covered her right hand... it was his own, but the wound didn't really heart much. He was just glad that Kagome was back to normal.

Once everyone decided that Kagome wasn't going to pop back to life with the urge to kill them, the students surrounded InuYasha. They made sure to keep a good distance between InuYasha and themselves, but soon enough, a few were brave enough to walk up to him.

InuYasha was broken out of his thoughts by someone rubbing his ear. His eyes snapped towards his left ear and he smacked the hand away that was rubbing the tiny triangle.

"Don't touch my ears," InuYasha said, turning towards the offender. It was a boy with brown hair.

He held up his hands and said, "Sorry... They're just so..." He stood there, searching for the right word.

"Cute!" a younger girl finished for him.

"Yeah. Cute," the boy said, looking at the constantly twitching ears.

InuYasha growled and stood up, Kagome laying in his arms. "Cute?" InuYasha asked, his eyebrow twitching.

The boy looked at Kagome, battered and with InuYasha's blood on his hands. "Will she be okay?" he asked.

"Why do you care? Who are you anyway?" InuYasha asked, glaring at the kid.

"I'm Hojo," he said, blushing and obviously ignoring the first question.

InuYasha raised an eyebrow and turned to see one of Kagome's friends walking up to him. Eri was followed by Yuka and Ayumi, both of them glaring.

"I think we need to go what's going on," Eri said, her hands on her hips.

InuYasha groaned, not wanting to deal with this at the moment. "Fine. But only you guys. Kagome seems to like you. Can't see why," InuYasha said, adding the last part silently. Kagome wouldn't like it if she heard him talking about her friends like that. He turned to the girls and said, "Come to Kagome's home, then. Her family could probably explain it better."

"Okay," Eri said, watching InuYasha turn around to leave.

InuYasha started to run forward, but then he jumped, leaping above the buildings. The students gasped and started talking about the white haired boy that had just saved them from a possessed girl.

- - -

Eri sighed, rubbing her forehead and said to her friends, "We're almost there. Can you stop trying to figure out what's happening?"

"But it's sort of fun... And it keeps our mind off what happened today," Ayumi explained.

Yuka nodded. "I think that Kagome was replaced by an actor and they're trying to shoot a monster movie, like the old ones that they used to do all the time," she suggested.

Hojo shook his head. "I don't think so. I think something is seriously wrong." Hojo turned to Eri and asked, "Do you really think it's all right for me to come? That white haired guy seemed a bit mean."

Eri nodded. "We've met him before. He's an all right guy. I think he was just really worried about Kagome..."

"But it doesn't explain what happened with her," Yuka finished.

"Right," Eri said, nodding.

"We're here," Ayumi said, looking at the huge mass of stairs that stood in front of them, making their way up to the shrine.

Hojo sighed and looked at the basket in his hands. "I hope that Kagome will like this stuff," he said, staring at the healthy and organic fruits sitting in the basket.

"_I_ hope that Kagome doesn't try to kill us," Eri said dryly.

"Don't talk like that, Eri," Ayumi said, leading the way up the stairs.

They reached the top and walked towards the house on the edge of the shrine, all of them glancing at the God Tree at least once. They reached the door and Eri knocked.

Shuffling could be heard and then the door slid open to reveal a pale and unsmiling Ms. Higurashi. Her face slightly brightened a little when she saw Kagome's friends. She had thought it was more bad news. "Oh, hello. Kagome's resting in her room upstairs. InuYasha-kun is there with her," Ms. Higurashi explained, letting the four inside. They took their shoes off and went upstairs.

Ms. Higurashi could hardly believe what she saw when InuYasha came home.

- - -

_InuYasha managed to open the door to the house and walked through, closing the door behind him. Ms. Higurashi walked to the front to see what was going on. Kagome and InuYasha _had _been gone for a while, and the family was getting worried._

_Ms. Higurashi gasped at what she saw. InuYasha stood at the entry way with Kagome in his arms, her shirt torn and hand bloody. She was unconscious, but she didn't look like she was suffering from any injuries. InuYasha, on the other hand, had long cuts on his face that had scabbed over and were starting to heal, but his stomach was bleeding._

"_Oh!" Ms. Higurashi said, taking a step back._

_InuYasha hadn't really planned on what would happen if Kagome's family had seen her like this._

"_Uh..." InuYasha started, glancing at Kagome quickly. "I'll bring her to her room. Then I'll explain everything."_

_InuYasha walked upstairs and put Kagome on her bed, the bloody hand hanging over the edge. The hanyou went back downstairs and explained everything while Souta cleaned and bandaged InuYasha's wound. To say the least, everyone was shocked when they heard the story about the Bachiatari Jewel and how it transformed Kagome into a vicious youkai._

"_Inu nii-chan... Will Kagome be all right?" Souta asked InuYasha._

_He didn't answer._

- - -

Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, and Hojo walked into Kagome's pink room and saw InuYasha sitting on Kagome's bed, watching Kagome sleep with droopy eyes.

"Uh... Hello... um... I don't know your name," Ayumi said.

"Didn't Ms. Higurashi say his name?" asked Yuka.

"I didn't catch it," Eri stated.

"It's InuYasha," said the hanyou, his gaze not shifting from Kagome.

Hojo was still shocked from seeing InuYasha sitting on the same bed with Kagome.

"InuYasha? Well, hello then," said Ayumi, smiling softly.

Eri, tired of waiting, asked, "What's going on here? I want you to explain everything."

InuYasha finally looked at them, and with a quick glare towards Hojo, he started to speak. "I can't tell you the whole story, because only Kagome knows that. I can tell you what I remember, though."

"Kagome fell through the well in the well-house, and she got transported to my time... Which is apparently the past. Then, she met me and through a strange twist of fate, we got stuck together to gather the pieces of the Shikon Jewel," InuYasha said.

"Is that why Kagome has been missing school?" Yuka asked.

"What's a Shikon Jewel?" questioned Hojo.

InuYasha growled and said, "Will you just shut up? I'm getting to that!"

"Anyway, the Shikon Jewel gives huge amounts of power to whoever has it, youkai or human." Seeing the looks on their faces, InuYasha sighed. "In my time, there is youkai everywhere. Kagome and I have been traveling to collect the shattered Shikon Jewel from youkai and restore the jewel. Well, a hanyou who has most of the jewel decided that it was gonna be really fun to stick the Bachiatari Jewel in Kagome. Apparently, the Bachiatari Jewel transforms humans into demons, but we don't know what causes the transformations or how to get rid of that jewel..."

"Kagome hasn't hurt anyone yet, besides me and another girl, Sango, but unless we get rid of it, I think she might hurt more," InuYasha finished, watching Kagome again as she slept.

"You mean, all this time Kagome has been traveling to the past and fighting demons and she has still managed to keep up with school?" Eri asked.

InuYasha almost fell over.

"Who cares? Kagome has almost killed people because of this stupid ass jewel, and you're asking about your dumb school?" InuYasha shouted.

"What's with those ears?" Hojo asked.

"I'm a youkai," InuYasha said.

"WHAT?" the four of them shouted, backing up into the wall.

"Just don't get on my nerves. I've got a bunch of claws that can cut through metal, and I don't have much patience for humans," InuYasha said, smirking.

The four humans looked as if they'd seen a ghost.

_End Chapter_


	10. More Stories

Sorry, my chapter is a little bit late, boring, and short. I was busy; my grandparents were here and I was kicked out of my room. Eh. Oh well, at least my chapter is up.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Ten: More Stories**

_I never imagined having to tell my friends about my secret. Though, InuYasha was right, they had to know. If they didn't, who knows what would have happened? I don't know, but it would have been bad. They had no idea what to think of everything that was told to them, though their information was incomplete. Let's face it, InuYasha wasn't the best at telling stories._

_So, I had to tell them. All the things that had happened to me, they were going to hear. All the things that I wanted to forget, and the stuff that I made sure to remember._

- - -

Kagome reached her hand up to her forehead and started massaging it. She groaned and sat up, wondering how she got to bed and how she got such a horrible headache. Kagome opened her eyes and looked at her friends, who were sitting in her room.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked.

Ayumi dug in her pocket and pulled out a bottle of aspirin, holding it out to Kagome. Kagome took it and muttered a thanks.

"We need you to tell us what's been going on. InuYasha's been very vague," Eri said.

Kagome choked on the pills that she was swallowing before managing to get them down. "What?" she managed to cough out.

"I told them what's been happening," InuYasha said next to her.

Kagome hadn't noticed InuYasha before and looked at him. Her eyes widened and she yelled out, "Why aren't you wearing a hat?"

"Kagome... They saw you transform," InuYasha explained, his eyes blank. "I think my ears aren't really important. I told them that you've been traveling to the past, but they want more information. You're gonna have to tell them the rest."

Kagome's expression was of pure shock. Her eyes were wide and she hardly blinked at all. Soon enough, she shook herself out of her state of emotion and turned towards her friends.

She sighed. "Well... I guess I'll have to start from the beginning," Kagome said, looking at her knees.

"It started on my fifteenth birthday. I was pulled down the well in the well house by a centipede youkai, and was pulled to the past. It was after me for the Shikon Jewel, which was in my body. The protector of the jewel was a miko, Kikyou, who I am the reincarnation of. Kikyou fell in love with InuYasha fifty years before," InuYasha blushed and turned away, and it was obvious that Kagome was having a hard time telling this part of the story, "but Kikyou was taking care of a thief who sold his body to demons so he could move again. He made InuYasha and Kikyou think that the other betrayed them, so the Jewel was tainted."

"So, when I got to the Sengoku Jidai, I found InuYasha stuck to a tree, asleep. He woke up because I was there, and I needed his help. He destroyed the youkai who pulled the jewel out of my side, but then turned on me and tried to kill me. Kaede, a miko in the village where we usually stop, put the necklace around InuYasha, though, and it allows me to make him fall whenever I say si-" InuYasha flinched and put his hand over Kagome's mouth.

"Whenever she says 'sit,'" InuYasha finished for her and then removed his hand.

"Uh... Yeah. Well, I broke the Shikon Jewel with an arrow later, and then InuYasha and I had to go find the pieces," Kagome said.

"Later, we were joined by a kitsune named Shippo, and then a perverted monk called Miroku. Sango, a youkai exterminator, joined us a bit after Miroku did. And Kikyou was resurrected from the dead, and part of my soul was stolen to bring her back... But she died again recently..." Kagome said, sadly.

Her friends all looked speechless, their mouths wide open as they looked at Kagome, but then she continued. "While we were fighting Naraku, the youkai who made InuYasha and Kikyou think that they betrayed each other, put a curse on Miroku, and killed Sango's village and family, he put a jewel in my back, which causes me to transform," Kagome finished, looking at her friends, who hadn't changed in their expression.

After a few moments of silence, Eri spoke up, saying, "Why didn't you tell us Kagome? We could have helped you out more! I would have done anything that I could to help you!"

"Yeah, Kagome! You need as much help and support as you can get," Yuka added.

Ayumi nodded, getting up and sitting next to Kagome. "Anything you need, just ask, okay Kagome?"

Hojo stayed silent for a bit and stood up. He walked over to Kagome and hugged her tightly, making InuYasha growl, but he didn't make a move to stop the human.

"Kagome, I'm sorry I've been so stupid. I will offer support in any way that I can, even if it means that I can't be with you," Hojo said, making Kagome's breath get caught in her throat.

Hojo let go and backed away, and Kagome started crying. "I can't tell you guys how much this means to me," sobbed Kagome, her hands wiping away the tears falling down her face. A handkerchief was shoved in her face by a clawed hand. She looked at InuYasha and smiled, but then took the piece of cloth.

Standing up, Kagome's friends turned towards her. "We will do all the research we can on this 'Bachiatari Jewel,' and we'll do what we can to find out a cure... or at least the effects of the jewel," Yuka said for all of them.

Kagome nodded and her friends left, all of them waving goodbye to her.

Kagome sighed and said, "I can't believe that they believed all of that."

"All of it was true, though, so why wouldn't they?" InuYasha said, glaring at the floor.

"It's not very easy to believe," Kagome said. "Sometimes I think I'm dreaming."

InuYasha sighed. "Well, it's not hard to believe when they see you with _wings_, and my ears. Besides, if it was a dream, I wouldn't want to wake up."

Kagome's eyes widened and she looked at InuYasha, trying to decide if she had just heard correctly. She smiled and said, "Neither would I. Besides, if I had had been dreaming, I wouldn't have met you."

InuYasha blushed and looked at the floor. Not being able to think of anything to say, he just "keh"-ed.

_Chapter End_


	11. A Pause for Breath

Yay, an new chapter. Woo. Heh. . Eh... Whatever.

You know, whenever I try to edit this on the 'easy edit' thing, I can't put in one of those long, horizontal lines in there, so I have to do the coding for it... It bites.

Though, now I have a longer chapter to apologize for the short one.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Eleven: A Pause for Breath**

_It was nice seeing my family, but I put them in danger. I decided that I had enough of 'realization' for one trip. It wasn't fun, it was scary. How could something like that happen? One moment I was fine, and another I was transforming into a vicious monster. Usually when humans transform into youkai, they actually _want_ to transform, for a selfish reason._

_But... What if I turn out like Naraku? What if I become a demon like him, that goes and kills everybody? I hadn't killed anyone so far, but I would have to make sure that I didn't transform to make sure I wouldn't kill anyone later._

- - -

Kagome climbed out of the well, breathing in the fresh air of the Sengoku Jidai. InuYasha hopped up behind her, happy to be back in his own time period, even if it was littered with demons and dangers.

The two of them walked in awkward silence towards the village, when they saw Miroku talking with some women.

"Stupid lecher," InuYasha muttered. "Oi! Monk! I want to congratulate you on your marriage!" Miroku turned to see InuYasha in the distance and smacked his forehead, his hand brushing back the black hair that fell over his forehead.

Miroku shook his head sadly as the women left, a little miffed at the prospect of the monk being married.

"InuYasha, why did you have to do that?" Miroku asked once InuYasha was close enough.

"Sango would have killed one of us if I didn't, so I'm not taking that chance," InuYasha said, smirking.

Kagome frowned. "Miroku-sama, you're engaged to Sango-chan. I don't think _anyone_ betrothed to you would like you flirting with other women," said the miko.

Miroku turned to Kagome and looked at her quizzically. "Did something happen while you were home, Kagome-sama? You sound quite upset," Miroku pointed out.

The miko sighed. "I was taken over by the Jewel again..."

Miroku saddened. "Oh. I see... Well, you better rest up. We found out some information about Naraku. Tomorrow we're going to go pursue it," explained the monk.

Kagome nodded but was startled by InuYasha saying, "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Miroku shrugged and went off to look for more women, but Sango found him instead.

"Going somewhere?" Sango said bitterly.

Miroku shook his head exuberantly and said, "No, no, Sango dearest! I was just looking for the most beautiful woman in the village, who I've found."

Sango blushed a bit and tapped him on top of the head. "Oh, just be quiet," she said, walking into Kaede's hut.

"Anything for you, Sango dearest!" Miroku exclaimed, bowing towards her.

Shippo hopped up on Kagome's shoulder, eating a stick of Pocky and said, "What a maroon."

Kagome turned her head towards Shippo and ruffled his hair a bit. "Shippo-chan, what were you doing?" Kagome asked.

Shippo shrugged and finished off the Pocky, wiping his face of any crumbs. "I was just playing with some of the other kids," said the kitsune, adjusting himself to sit more comfortably on Kagome's shoulder.

Kagome smiled. Shippo always seemed to be so cheerful, no matter what was happening. Kagome wished that she could be as optimistic as the little kit sitting on her shoulder. Like everyone else, he was being more careful around Kagome, but Shippo didn't act much different than usual.

Shippo pulled Kagome out of her thoughts by asking, "Did you bring any snacks Kagome?"

Kagome frowned playfully and said, "You just got a bunch of snacks a few days ago! Do you really need more?" Her frown turned into a smirk.

Shippo nodded, giggling a little bit.

"Well, sorry Shippo, but I didn't bring anything with me. I didn't have any time," Kagome explained, instead of saying that she transformed.

Shippo pouted a bit and let out a low groan. Kagome laughed softly, a real smile forming on her face for once.

InuYasha watched the two of them and was amazed at how Shippo could make Kagome smile so easily. He frowned a bit and said, "We better get ready to go."

Nodding, Kagome walked towards the hut with InuYasha by her side and Shippo on her shoulder.

- - -

The group of five, plus one nekomata, set off to find Naraku the day after Kagome came home. They made quick progress on the trails, but all were occupied with their own thoughts.

InuYasha frowned as he thought more about Kagome and what was happening to her. He glanced at Kagome who was walking next to him, and his eyes landed on her back, the spot where the Jewel rested, the spot on her spine in between her shoulder blades. InuYasha could even sense a faint youki leaking out of the Bachiatari Jewel.

What would this Jewel do to Kagome, besides transform her? And what would it do to everyone else? InuYasha thought back to the time where he had almost lost himself to his youkai side. Would the same thing happen to Kagome?

The hanyou wished desperately that he could help Kagome in some way, but he had no idea how. _I guess... all I can do is be here for Kagome,_ InuYasha thought sadly.

Though, InuYasha's thoughts were ended by Kagome saying something to him.

InuYasha's white ear twitched and he turned towards Kagome, saying, "Huh?"

The miko sighed and said, "It's dark out, and Sango said that she found a hot spring. Can we stop here?"

InuYasha was about to protest when he remembered how Shippo had made Kagome smile so easily. InuYasha's refusal died on his lips and he glared at the trees, folding his arms. "Fine," InuYasha said, straightening his posture. "I'm gonna go collect firewood."

Kagome looked like she was in shock. Closing her gaping mouth she blinked and said, "Huh? What just happened?"

Miroku and Sango walked next to Kagome and looked off in the direction where InuYasha left.

"Is he feeling all right?" Shippo asked, bouncing up on Miroku's shoulder.

Kagome shrugged and said, "Well, whatever. I'm going to go take a bath."

"I guess I'll come with you," Sango said. "Shippo, watch the monk and make sure that he doesn't follow us."

Shippo nodded and jumped over Miroku and transformed himself with a loud _poof_. A statue fell in Shippo's place on top of Miroku's head before he could do anything, and he was knocked out... for at least a little while.

- - -

Steamy mist accumulated around the hot spring, floating around the two girls sitting in the water. Kagome hugged her legs close to her body, watching the mist swirl around objects, the fog never reaching much higher than her own head.

"We haven't really gotten to talk much lately, have we?" Sango said, a small smirk on her face.

Kagome's gaze shifted from the mist to Sango and she shook her head. "I guess not."

Sango was obviously worried. "Are you doing all right?" she asked.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine," Kagome replied, her voice cracking a bit.

"No, you're not," Sango said, shaking her head.

Kagome sighed. "I suppose you're right. I feel horrible, and there's nothing I can do."

Sango's eyebrows furrowed. "Let me see it. The jewel, I mean," she said, holding out her hand.

"Fine, but _do not_ touch it," she said warningly.

Kagome turned around and Sango moved closer to her, her hands resting on Kagome's shoulders as she looked at the jewel and the scar around it carefully. She smiled sadly and said, "I find this mark sadly familiar."

The miko's eyes saddened. "Yeah, I realized that when I looked at it. It seems like there's a barrier around it, at least for humans," Kagome explained.

"Maybe it's for stopping people from trying to take it out," Sango said, her hand hovering above the jewel where the barrier started.

The two turned their heads towards the camp when they heard the bushes rustle. And it wasn't the kind of rustling from the wind, it was a distinct person.

"Houshi-sama..." Sango said warningly, picking up a rock.

He cleared his throat and said, "I'm here but that's not me in the bushes, that's Shippo." Miroku's voice was obviously coming from a different place then the rustling.

"Why are you here?" Kagome asked angrily.

"InuYasha sent Shippo and I to get you girls because he and I felt a strange youki in the area," Miroku explained.

Sango looked up to the sky. "Funny. I don't sense anything," she said, shrugging. "Why didn't Shippo just come alone?"

"InuYasha said that you two may need protection. And Shippo was a little bit afraid to come alone," Miroku explained.

Shippo popped up next to the two girls and handed them their towels and then ran towards Miroku, telling the two of them it was okay to come out. Shippo made sure that Miroku was facing the other way the whole time.

As soon as the girls dried off, they went to get their clothes. Sango picked hers up and Kagome searched for hers, but wasn't able to find them.

"I can't find my clothes!" Kagome said as soon as Sango was dressed.

Sango walked next to Kagome and looked around. "Are you sure you checked everywhere?" Kagome nodded.

Deciding it was safe to come out, Miroku came from his hiding spot and walked up next to Sango. Hardly glancing at the jewel that still stuck out of her back, Miroku said to the miko, "Sango, Shippo and I will search for your clothes, Kagome-sama. Surely you have some extras in your bag."

Kagome nodded. "You're right. I'll go back to camp," said Kagome before hurrying through the forest.

Sango turned to Miroku and said to him, "Why do I have to help you look, Houshi-sama?"

"Because it's a set up," Miroku said, a large grin on his face.

"Huh?"

Shippo walked over to Miroku and said, "Here's Kagome's clothes, Miroku."

Sango glared at the monk and he waved his hands out in front of him. "I didn't do it to look at Kagome, trust me! Shippo and I did it to help out Kagome, and InuYasha to an extent. See, Kagome needs to be cheered up, and who better to cheer her up then her best friend? And if all goes well, then I think that they may be feeling a little closer than friends," Miroku said, picking up Kagome's clothes.

"Oh... Houshi-sama," Sango said sweetly. She then noticed him looking at Kagome's clothes carefully, trying to figure out what they were. Sango glared and took the clothes from him.

"Hey!"

"Let's just go spy on them all ready. I'm sure Kagome has gotten there by now.

- - -

Kagome hid behind a tree as she crawled towards the camp, holding onto the towel covering her body like it was a lifeline. She cleared her throat, seeing as InuYasha didn't notice her, setting another log on the fire. He turned to see Kagome inch herself so he could see her better, and she blushed. InuYasha blushed back.

"Uh... InuYasha," Kagome said, looking at her feet and playing with them. Miroku and Sango hid behind a couple bushes for cover and watched what was happening.

"Damn, she's got a nice ass," Miroku whispered. His comment was met with an exterminator's fist.

Kagome blushed even more and said, "My clothes went missing at the hot spring, can I have my bag? I think I have extras in there." After finishing her explination she cleared her throat nervously.

InuYasha, still blushing, nodded and turned his head quickly away from Kagome to her yellow backpack.

The hanyou walked over to the backpack and picked it up, turning towards Kagome. Luckily, her eyes were carefully examining the bark of the tree and she didn't notice InuYasha quickly glance at the other parts of her body.

While slowly making his way over to Kagome, or what seemed like slowly, InuYasha couldn't help but notice that the towel around her as _much _shorter than her skirt. It also showed a bit of cleavage. He also couldn't help but notice that she was still wet; the water from her bath rolled down her arms and legs, and a few droplets slowly made their way down her chest.

InuYasha finally made it to where Kagome was standing, and he dropped the bag a little ways away from her. She crouched down, the towel concealing any parts that she wouldn't want to show, and started looking through her backpack. Though, InuYasha had a better view of what he was looking at before, and he blushed once he realized what he was looking at. He quickly turned away, hiding the blush from any onlookers.

Once Kagome was finished looking through her bag she groaned. "Shit!" she exclaimed.

The sudden curse from Kagome made InuYasha turn and look at her strangely. "Huh?"

"Shit, shit, shit!" Kagome said again, slamming her fist on her leg. "Ow!"

"Well, you wouldn't be in pain if you didn't hit yourself!" InuYasha growled, his glare deepening at being ignored. "What's wrong?" InuYasha managed to say over Kagome's cursing.

"My clothes are gone! All of them! Well, except for this," Kagome said, pulling her underwear out of her bag and crumpling them in her hand.

InuYasha noticed that gesture and thought that her underwear must be very small for her to fit them in her hand like that.

Kagome looked up to see InuYasha undoing his haori. She blushed and saw that he was keeping his under shirt on. He walked over to Kagome and handed her the robe made from the fur of the fire rat, making sure to avoid looking at her.

"Here. You can wear this for now," InuYasha said, releasing it once Kagome had grabbed onto it. He walked away to the other side of camp, and left Kagome to change.

Once Kagome had started to loosen the towel around her body, Sango covered up Miroku's eyes with her hands. He sighed but knew not to speak up about it.

Kagome quickly pulled up her panties and then put on InuYasha's haori, saying to him, "Okay, you can look now," once she was ready.

InuYasha turned around and blushed at Kagome's new garments, which was almost as bad as the towel. If possible, they may have been a little shorter than the towel, and showed off as much cleavage.

Kagome unrolled her sleeping bag and looked at InuYasha. "I suppose you might be a little cold without your haori... Do you want to share my sleeping bag with me? You know, return the favor stuff," Kagome suggested, making InuYasha blush harder than before.

"Wh-what?"

Realizing what she said, Kagome corrected herself, blushing as red as the haori she was wearing. Kagome started talking hurriedly, "Oh! I didn't mean that! I meant that I would cover us with this! Not sleep like _that_, not that you'd want to. I mean--"

"Yeah. Sure," InuYasha interrupted, sitting next to a tree by the fire.

Ignoring her earlier embarrassment, Kagome walked over to him and sat down next to him, cuddling up closer to him then InuYasha had expected. Hell, she even laid against his chest, not that InuYasha was complaining.

The large sleeping bag covered both of them comfortably, not even one of Kagome's feet stuck out. Kagome fell asleep quickly, though it took a little longer for InuYasha to fall asleep as well. Though, once he did fall asleep, anyone could tell that it was one of the most peaceful sleeps that he had had in a while.

Soon Sango had fallen asleep as well, and Miroku watched as she shivered every once in a while. He got up and went into the camp to get one of the other sleeping bags that Kagome had brought for them, and he opened it up to cover Sango and himself, and Shippo, only because he was close enough.

Though, everyone in their little traveling group slept close together, some even not knowing that someone cared enough to share his warmth with her.

_Chapter End_


	12. Pain of Ignorance

I didn't get to work on this because a friend of mine came over to my house... She's still here actually. Well, whatever.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twelve: Pain of Ignorance**

_Even though that had to be one of the most embarrassing nights of my life, I also thought it was one of the most treasured. I found out later that it was Miroku and Shippo who took my clothes, but I just laughed. I knew where they were coming from. I had tried to do such things for Miroku and Sango before, if I remember correctly._

_It was rare that InuYasha was nice like that, but when he was, I felt like he was opening himself up to me._

- - -

Kagome's eyes fluttered open, all of the things that had happened recently momentarily forgotten. All she knew is that she was _really_ comfortable and warm.

She closed her eyes again and tried to go back to sleep, but she knew that she was awake now, and she wasn't going to get back to sleep.

Kagome yawned and looked around, starting to remember where she was and what happened last night. She blushed at the memory of how InuYasha gave her his haori, and how the only clothes in her bag was a pair of panties.

"InuYasha," Kagome whispered, blushing a little bit.

"Not yet, I'm really comfortable," InuYasha said, indicating that he woke up earlier than her.

Kagome smiled. "Yeah... I am too," she said, loving the sound of InuYasha's voice while her head was pressed against his stomach. It made it sound deeper and more... earthy? She decided that would be a good word to describe how it sounded.

Kagome adjusted herself a bit and realized her back hurt a little bit. Of course, what would she expect by sleeping on InuYasha all night?

"I think we should get up," Kagome said, tapping on InuYasha's shirt.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," InuYasha said, straightening up a little bit.

Kagome slowly pushed herself up and stretched her back, causing it to crack in multiple places. Over the night the haori that InuYasha had lent her had become a little loose, and InuYasha was trying to catch Kagome's attention by clearing his throat.

The miko looked at InuYasha, her arms still up near her head like she was stretching, and raised an eyebrow. Catching on, she looked down and gave out a cry of surprise. That's what woke up Miroku and Sango over in the bushes.

Sango woke up, and was surprised to see Miroku laying next to her, looking at something sleepily. Sango blushed and got out from under the warm blankets to wake herself up.

Kagome turned around, holding onto the edges of the haori tightly, and saw Sango and her flaming red face. Shippo yawned and woke up next to her and tugged on the exterminator's clothes. Sango looked down and then reached for something that Kagome couldn't see.

"Uh, we found your clothes," Sango said, picking up the clothes that had been stolen by the monk and kitsune, and held them towards Kagome.

"Great!" Kagome said, walking over to Sango and taking the clothes. She left to change and soon enough the group left camp, off to search for Naraku.

The morning slowly changed to midday and the weather slowly changed to storms.

Thunder heads rolled in and a few flashes of lighting light the sky before the rain started to fall on the group of travelers. Miroku and Sango covered themselves with their rain hats and Shippo managed to huddle in the space between Miroku's shoulder and his hat. InuYasha didn't pay any attention to the rain, but Kagome tried to find an umbrella in her bag.

"What are you doing?" InuYasha asked, turning towards Kagome and adjusting the backpack that he was carrying.

"Looking for my... Uh... AHA!" Kagome said, pulling out the compact umbrella.

The hanyou watched as she fumbled with the umbrella, her shirt starting to stick to her skin. Once she undid the button holding the umbrella together, she opened it away from the others and held it over her head. She saw InuYasha shrug and turn back to the direction they were traveling and she walked over to him and held the umbrella over his head as well.

"What're you doing? I don't need that!" InuYasha growled, not wanting to accept help from Kagome.

Kagome watched the road in front of them. "Your ears looked like they were bothered by the rain," she replied simply.

He frowned at her and glared.

"Keh."

- - -

A few hours later, as the sun started to get lower in the sky and the rain had slowed down to a drizzle, the travelers came upon a village.

"Yay! We can sleep in nice beds tonight!" Kagome said when she saw the village.

Being the bearer of bad news, Sango said, "We have no money."

"Aw..." Kagome groaned, sighing but still holding up the umbrella over InuYasha and herself.

Miroku laughed a bit. "Don't worry, I'll get us somewhere to stay," he said, grinning widely.

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Kagome asked.

"You're going to lie to get us a place to stay, aren't you?" Shippo asked.

Miroku glared at the kitsune and sighed. "No, there's a youki coming from one of those houses."

Sango nodded. "You're right, Houshi-sama. I sense it, too."

The group walked into the village and found their way to where the youki was coming from. They all stood in front of a shrine, where an older man stood out in front, sweeping the front steps.

"Excuse me," Miroku said, walking up to the man. "I sense a strange youki from this shrine. Is it possessed by a youkai?"

The man looked up at the monk and shook his head. "No. It's always been like this. The aura has actually gone down since the Bachiatari Jewel was stolen."

"What?" Kagome said, running towards the man. "You mean this place is the home to that jewel?"

The man nodded, though he looked slightly frightened by Kagome's sudden shouting.

"This shrine is actually where the jewel once resided before it was stolen by a youkai," said the old man.

"Naraku," whispered InuYasha, clenching his fists.

"I need to know about the jewel!" Kagome said urgently.

The man quickly nodded, fearing what Kagome might do, and opened the doors to the shrine. The others walked in before Kagome, but all of them could feel the evil youki coming from the building.

Five steps into the building and Kagome stopped. A pain so excruciating erupted from her back that she couldn't scream, she could just feel. Kagome tried to speak, or even make any noise, but all she could do was lift up her hand and clench her teeth. Tears started to fall down her face, which made InuYasha turn around.

"Kagome?" InuYasha said, concerned.

Kagome collapsed to the floor, hardly able to breathe correctly.

"Kagome!" InuYasha's voice sounded far off to her, but she could feel herself being picked up.

Once she was outside the pain in her back slowly went away and Kagome's breathing went back to normal.

"Are you okay?" InuYasha asked, holding Kagome's shoulders carefully.

Kagme nodded slowly. "I think so..."

The old man came outside and asked, "What happened?"

Kagome, regaining her ability to do normal functions, said to him, "I think it was because that was where the Bachiatari Jewel was kept. See... the hanyou that stole it put the jewel in my body," Kagome explained, looking away from the man's face.

He gasped and then stood up.

"Hey, get this group the best room in the inn! This girl is under the curse of the Bachiatari Jewel!" said the man, yelling at all the people to get things nice for them.

Everyone started to help the group around the place and they led InuYasha and the others to the inn.

Once settled inside, they were greeted by the man who had shown them the shrine.

"I suppose you want some questions answered about the Bachiatari Jewel," the old man said.

Kagome nodded. "How come humans can't touch it?" she asked.

He answered with, "When it's not being used, then humans can touch it without any pain, but when it is in use, only youkai may touch it. It will place a curse on any human who manages to touch the jewel, but it also has a barrier that protects the humans from touching it."

Miroku spoke up this time, and he also wondered why Kagome didn't ask this first... or maybe she was afraid of the answer. "Is there any way to get the jewel out of Kagome?" he asked, making everyone turn to stare at him.

"There is, but we do not know it."

Kagome glared at the floor and asked, "What causes the transformations?"

"That... I do not know either," said the old man sadly.

"What? What do you mean, you don't know? You guys are the ones who were protecting the damn jewel! You should know what it does!" InuYasha shouted, standing up and trying not to attack the man.

"InuYasha!" Kagome shouted, glaring at the floor. "Yelling won't do anything... We'll just have to go find Naraku."

Kagome sighed. She thought to herself, _We'll have to find Naraku, and hope that I can get rid of this Jewel._

_Chapter End_


	13. What Makes Humans Weak

Yays, a new chapter.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Thirteen: What Makes Humans Weak**

_We found out that the jewel places a curse on any human that touches it. That explains why Shippo could touch it, and why InuYasha had a harder time touching it. It doesn't make sense, though. Why would Naraku put this curse on me? Just to torture my emotions? Why doesn't he just kill us? He could have easily killed me when he put the jewel in my back, instead of just harmed me, but he didn't. Is he going soft, or is he planning something much bigger than what we've ever dreamed of?_

_Up until the day that we went off to find Naraku, my sense of doom had been mounting. Sure, I was doomed already with the curse of the Bachiatari Jewel, but what was going to happen afterwards? What then?_

- - -

The group of travelers set off in the morning, getting an early start to finding Naraku. No one complained when they left; all of them just wanted to defeat Naraku so Kagome wouldn't have to suffer any more.

Kagome's shoes kicked up dirt and dust as she walked the slowly narrowing trail. It was obvious that the trail wasn't used lately, or it was just used sparingly. Birds twittered over head, flying around and fleeing when they saw the group of youkai and humans.

If Kagome didn't know better, she would have thought that things were back to normal. But the few changes that seemed like nothing to some people were huge to her. The only people who didn't seem to walk an extra foot away from her were InuYasha and sometimes Shippo. Kirara would jump on her shoulder sometimes and offer her comfort, but usually stayed with Sango, but that didn't change anything much. Kagome often caught Miroku staring at the spot in her back where the jewel rested, and that gleam in his eyes was either pity, or desire to try and get rid of it.

The miko sighed.

This wasn't getting any easier for her, that was for sure. She turned her head towards InuYasha, who felt her gaze and did the same as she. The hanyou's eyebrows furrowed as he scowled, saying, "Whaddya want?"

Kagome just smiled and said, "I just wanted to thank you."

"Thank me? Why do you wanna do that?"

"For being there for me... For never giving up on me, and for not changing the way you act towards me," Kagome said, her smile sweet and her eyes sparkling with emotion.

"Keh... It's what you did for me, I gotta return the favor," the hanyou replied.

"Well, you don't know how much it means to me."

InuYasha silently sighed. _Believe me, I know exactly how much it means._

- - -

As they continued to travel, the sun gradually rose to eliminate the traveler's shadows, and to make blankets of shade underneath the trees.

As Kagome tried to find a snack in the many pockets of her backpack, InuYasha stopped, his nose high into the air.

Kagome hardly noticed, but when she was going to ask him if he wanted anything, she stopped and noticed his pose. "What is it, InuYasha? What do you smell?" Kagome asked.

Miroku and Sango stopped as well, and Shippo sniffed the air to try and catch whatever InuYasha was smelling.

"Naraku," said the hanyou simply. "Though, it's just a puppet."

"Naraku usually sends puppets if he wants to tease us with information," Miroku explained.

Sango nodded and said, "I suppose we should destroy it before it does anything."

So they traveled towards the puppet, a little faster paced than before.

They came across a clearing that the fake Naraku sat in, smirking at them evilly.

"Okay, what do you want?" InuYasha ordered, yanking out his sword.

The fake Naraku smirked. "Have you noticed a similarity in circumstances when Kagome changed?" Naraku asked, his smile widening when he saw the looks on everyone's faces. Kagome's eyes widened, and InuYasha glared. The hanyou wasn't going to chop the puppet up to pieces just yet, though.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked.

"Every time Kagome transforms, there is one reoccurring factor," he explained, his tentacles crawling on the ground towards them. "The thing that makes humans so weak. Emotions. Strong, negative emotions is what triggers the transformations. And those emotions will just keep getting worse as time goes on!"

InuYasha held onto his sword tighter. "You... bastard!"

Kagome was watching Naraku with wide eyes.

"There is also one more thing that can cause your miko to transform," Naraku said, grinning now.

Kagome gasped; she started to feel strange.

"Me."

Once Naraku had said that single word, Kagome screamed out in pain, her head pounding and wings tearing out of her back once more. Her clothes quickly became tattered by the claws that had grown and grasped at every place that hurt while she was transforming.

Kagome stopped screaming once she finished transforming; the youkai in the jewel had completely taken over her body. She started to laugh quietly and stood, making the others step back from her.

No one moved. Miroku and Sango got their weapons ready, in case they had to fight back, and Shippo hid behind Kirara. InuYasha just stood on the other side of Kagome, shocked at what she had become once more.

Kagome glanced at Naraku's puppet and smirked before taking off through the forest.

InuYasha's eyes widened. "She's heading for a village!" he shouted, the scents of the villagers reaching his nose. He put away his sword and ran after Kagome, not even looking back to the puppet that took Naraku's form.

Sango used her Hiraikotsu to cut off the golem's head, and it broke into many little pieces.

Before vanishing into dust, Naraku said to them, "If you try to pull the Bachiatari Jewel out, her memories of all the times she transformed will resurface, and just think how broken she'll be when she remembers that!"

Naraku vanished and Miroku called to Sango as he hopped on Kirara. Sango joined him, and they set off to stop their friend, and hopefully they'd be in time.

_Chapter End_


	14. Elegant Bleeding

I have nothing to say, really... Except that this chapter probably is gonna be really fun for me to write. I hope it is. The title actually comes from an online friend of mine, who goes on a forum that I do. :3 He he.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Fourteen: Elegant Bleeding**

_I now know how InuYasha felt whenever he transformed. I had no control over myself, I can't even remember transforming, though. I don't know what was worse, not remembering the deeds I've done and being blamed for them, or the prospect of remembering anything that I did as a youkai._

- - -

InuYasha ran through the forest at speeds that he hardly ever used. For once, his emotions ran rampant, and he couldn't help but admit that he was worried. The dog ears on top of his head were flattened against the wind and his hair was almost straight out behind him.

He could smell the village ahead of him, and the scent of a youkai reached his sensitive nose. _No, not a youkai, a human... Kagome, _InuYasha thought, clenching his fist.

_Damn that Naraku,_ InuYasha thought, glaring into the distance.

It only took him a couple minutes to arrive to the village where Kagome was. He could hear her laughing in the distance, and villagers screaming. No doubt she was flying above them, holding her claws out for them to see.

InuYasha broke through the tree line and saw Kagome doing just that, laughing and flying above them, torturing the humans.

"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted as he ran towards where she floated in the air. He looked up at her and glared. "You've got to stop this!"

"Never!" Kagome shouted, her grin as wide as ever. "You have no control over me anymore! You can't stop me! Not unless you fight me!"

InuYasha's eyes went wide. "What?" he hissed.

Kagome's eyes flashed. "You heard me," Kagome said.

"You can't do this! These are innocent people! You don't want to kill them!" InuYasha shouted at the possessed miko.

"How do you know what I feel?" Kagome shouted out.

"Because I know how you are! You're unselfish! You care about others! You're Kagome! You aren't a youkai, and you don't want to kill them!" InuYasha shouted out.

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Sorry, hanyou, but your words will have no effect on me this time. I have no idea what sort of magics cause this feeble human soul to return to what it once was, but I'm not going to fall out of control any more! Hanyou, prepare to die!" Kagome shouted, showing her fangs and claws to InuYasha.

InuYasha jumped back as Kagome lunged at him, her claws elongated and aimed for his neck. She ran into a building by the sheer force of her attack. Kagome rose from the rubble, smiling still.

"You're faster than I expected. No matter, I'm still no match for you, even if you did use your full strength," Kagome taunted.

If InuYasha got angry, he didn't look it. He just looked slightly scared, and concerned for what would happen to Kagome.

The humans of the village hadn't left yet, though a few had fled to the woods, like the children, some women, and the elderly. The villagers looked like they were ready to fight, but InuYasha held a hand out towards them, stopping them in their tracks.

"You stay back. She's possessed, and can't control herself," InuYasha explained simply.

"Possessed? Possessed! You think I'm possessed? Ha! I'm far from possessed! I'm a youkai, and I'm gonna kill you!" Kagome yelled, running towards InuYasha, her claws ready.

While passing him, Kagome swiped her long claws at him, using power that could go through steal. InuYasha took a hit, but nothing more than a scratch.

Kagome stopped and went back to him, ready for another attack. She sent her fist at him, which he stopped with his hand. Kagome was a little taken back by him resisting, but quickly got over it and used her free fist to punch him in the stomach and used her claws to attack him while he was in the air.

"You're done for," Kagome said, jumping up and kicking InuYasha into the ground, making a small crater reminiscent of the holes made by the enchanted necklace that the hanyou wore.

Kagome landed next to him, and crouched down, ready to strike the last blow to his unconscious form. Her clawed hand went straight for his neck.

Only a small trickle of blood seemed to come from InuYasha's neck. Kagome hadn't touched him; she hadn't even finished the blow. Her hand stopped right when she touched his neck with her claw.

"Why... can't I kill him?" Kagome asked herself, anger flaring around her.

She growled and stood, glaring at the unconscious boy in front of her. "No matter. I'll just have to kill something else," she said, her voice dark and malicious.

Red eyes landed on the villagers that were trying to get up the nerve to fight her, and she smiled.

"This is gonna be fun," said the possessed miko, before lunging towards the humans.

- - -

Miroku didn't even think about reaching for Sango's butt while they flew through the sky on Kirara. Shippo sat on his shoulder, and he watched as the scenery went by.

"I think we're almost there," Sango said grimly.

They had been held back by Naraku's puppet, but they made up their time by going as fast as they could on Kirara.

InuYasha had said that Kagome was going to a village, so that's where they were going. With Kirara's nose leading them to InuYasha, they had to find them soon.

"I feel a bad aura," Miroku said, cringing slightly. He recognized that aura, it was Kagome's when she was transformed. No one had that much power within Miroku's sensing range.

Sango nodded. "I do too. We're getting closer to Kagome-chan," Sango said, stating the obvious.

"Let's hurry," Shippo suggested, surprising everyone with his bravery.

The screams of humans could soon be heard to even those with human ears. Sango gripped Kirara's fur a little tighter.

Kirara landed on the outskirts of the village, which was almost indistinguishable from the middle of the village because all of the debris.

The new arrivals gasped at what they saw.

Kagome stood on top of the largest pile of wood and buildings, a few chickens cut up on the ground near her. Littered all over the ground was bodies and blood, and Kagome was covered in the blood of others, grinning madly. She held onto the clothing of a human still alive, squirming under her gaze and tears streaming down her cheeks.

She pulled back her hand and stuck it through the human's gut, piercing through numerous organs. Blood covered Kagome's hand and started to slide down her arm. There were hardly any spots on her clothes not covered in blood, and it dripped all over her body. The sleeves on her shirt had been ripped off, and you could even see through the holes that had been made in her shirt. The woman with a hand in her stomach started to cough up blood, which splattered on Kagome's still grinning face.

Kagome whipped her arm so the human flew off, blood flying all over the place.

Sango and Miroku looked around, and Sango gasped when she saw a familiar hanyou with white hair laying on his back. "Oh! Is he...?" Sango couldn't finish her sentence.

Miroku looked at InuYasha carefully and said, "I don't think so..."

Kagome noticed the newcomers and grinned. "I remember you. You're the exterminator that managed to cut me before," Kagome seethed, smirking a bit. She walked towards them, her bloody claws held up for them to see.

Strong arms snaked themselves around Kagome's waist and stopped her from moving. Her wings slowly folded in, to reveal the hanyou holding on to her, trying to get her back to normal.

"It won't work... this time!" Kagome said, trying to turn on InuYasha.

Slowly, she faltered and returned to normal, falling unconscious once more, blood seeping down her body.

InuYasha picked her up so she would be more comfortable on both of them, and walked over to Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo, who all took a couple steps back. The hanyou's eyes saddened, but it was hidden by a glare.

"She's harmless now, guys," InuYasha said, his voice harsh.

"Yeah, but how long will that last?" Shippo asked, the fearsome realization of that statement striking everybody to the core.

_Chapter End_


	15. Trying to Understand

I got the last chapter up quickly in the day (my day at least). That's good. And this new chapter should be up quickly too, seeing as I'm finishing it a couple days early. I'm going to try to get most of my chapters done early, so I don't fall behind again. Once you fall behind it's hard to catch up. That's why it's good to stay in the lead. Anyway, enough talking. You wanna hear me talk in the story, don't ya? Well, here you go.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Fifteen: Trying to Understand**

_No one is ever willing to tell me what happened to me after I woke up. I didn't know if I wanted to know what happened, but I had to. If I didn't, I don't know if I could start to get better. It was like an illness that would kill those around me instead of killing me. Though, hardly anyone would stick around me anymore. I couldn't blame them, though. I could transform into a youkai and kill them at any moment. It wasn't something that you would want in a friend._

- - -

After burying the humans from the village, the group quickly set out to find a secluded place to stay and wait until Kagome awoke.

InuYasha ran, the blood on Kagome's clothes still a bit damp and soaking through his sleeves. They had buried all the humans from the village quickly, trying to make sure that Kagome wouldn't wake up to see what happened. That wouldn't just make her upset, but she would most likely transform.

The group went through the forest, straying from the path to avoid anyone that may be traveling. They didn't need to deal with that, and none of them had suffered severe wounds.

Soon enough, the trees started to thin a bit and they could hear the roar of a waterfall in the distance. The group found themselves at a small lake with a soft waterfall and a small river flowed from the pond. The nearly full moon lit up the clearing, adding a blue hue to the beautiful landscape. There was a nice secluded area for someone to take a bath in the lake, and they could even go over to the waterfall and clean themselves off there.

Once InuYasha indicated that it was there they were going to stay, Miroku, Sango and Shippo started to gather firewood for the camp fire. Kirara transformed so InuYasha could rest Kagome against the nekomata while he tried to figure out how to unroll and unzip her sleeping bag. The night was already pretty cold, and it wasn't going to get any warmer, seeing as it wasn't even midnight yet.

Finally, InuYasha managed to get the sleeping bag open enough to slide Kagome in. Relieving Kirara of holding her up, InuYasha picked up Kagome and put her in the strange, but warm, sleeping bag.

"Do you want to stay here with Kagome?" InuYasha asked Kirara. She made a strange sound, but InuYasha took that as a no. _Not many people would want to stay here with her after she slaughtered a whole village,_ thought the hanyou.

"Fine, you go help the others out. I'll stay here with her," InuYasha said, dismissing Kirara with a wave of his hand. She walked off to find her owner, and InuYasha sat down next to the miko.

"You're causing me a lot of trouble, you know," InuYasha whispered to Kagome, glaring at the head poking out of the sleeping bag. The blood covered on her face reminded InuYasha of Kikyou, before she died. The blood was in the exact same spot, and if he didn't know better, he would have thought that he was 50 years in the past. But Kikyou was gone now, and only Kagome was here.

InuYasha sighed. He had tried to make sure that Kagome wouldn't get mixed up in this, but she was persistent and came back, and he wasn't any good at fighting when she wasn't there. Now look at what happened when she was here.

Who knew? Maybe this would turn out to be good for something, but InuYasha had his doubts.

The others came back with plenty of firewood and soon had a nice fire going. InuYasha decided that he needed to talk to them.

"Guys, I know you weak humans are afraid of what may happen with Kagome, but I need you all to try to act normal," InuYasha said harshly.

Ignoring his rudeness, Miroku said to InuYasha, "Why is that so important?"

"If she sees you guys acting like this around her, there will be even more chances for her to transform, idiot," InuYasha explained. Having gone through the same thing as Kagome before, he knew exactly what could happen.

Sango looked at the ground fire snapping before her. "It's not that we don't want to act normal around Kagome, it's just too hard. She could kill us at any moment..."

"I could kill you at any moment!" InuYasha roared, standing up. "Don't you realize how tough this is on Kagome? It may seem like she's a heartless wench when she's transformed, but she would never want to hurt you! What if it was one of you guys who this was happening to?"

"I'm trying my hardest, InuYasha!" Shippo yelled, glaring at the hanyou.

"For once, I'm not talking to you!"

Shippo looked shocked. _I guess that Kagome isn't the only one that's changing from this whole ordeal,_ thought the kitsune as he sat back down after yelling at InuYasha. But InuYasha was right. Shippo hadn't acted much different at all. He was still afraid for Kagome, like the others, but he was there to support her.

InuYasha glared at the two humans. "I've been told by countless demons that humans are the most selfish, the stupidest, and the dumbest of all creatures! I've known that, but I also know that humans are loyal, trusting, and don't turn their backs on someone in need," InuYasha said, his voice calming down a bit.

"I don't want you two to be the ones to show me that I'm wrong," InuYasha finished, walking away from them and going towards the waterfall.

- - -

Almost precisely twenty-four hours after Kagome fell unconscious, she woke up, hardly remembering anything that happened. She remembered Naraku, but what about him was so important?

_The transformations!_ Kagome's mind shouted at her. _He was talking about what makes me transform. Emotions and... What else was it? Ehh... His influence? Was that it?_

Kagome slowly pushed herself up and looked down at herself. Her clothes, covered in rips and blood. And her hands... And her entire body.

Kagome had no doubt in her mind now. Before, she didn't know if she could believe the others when they said that she transformed into a vicious monster. But seeing her clothes and body like this, she had no other option to believe.

Looking around, she saw Shippo, playing near the water's edge. Kagome got up and walked towards him, the ground crunching beneath her feet. She stopped next to the kitsune and asked, "Shippo... What happened?"

The small youkai turned around and looked at Kagome sadly. "The others wouldn't tell me, but whatever happened, I'm sorry for it," Shippo said.

Kagome blinked away the tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't apologize, Shippo. I'll just ask everyone else. Where's Sango and Miroku?" Kagome asked, her eyes stinging a little bit. Shippo pointed to the forest. "And InuYasha?" Shippo shrugged.

"Well, thanks anyway," Kagome said, walking in the direction that Shippo said Sango and Miroku would be in.

Kagome hardly made it to the edge of the forest when she heard two people talking.

Once she got closer to the voices, she realized it was the two she was looking for. She came into their line of vision, and Kirara mewed on Sango's shoulder.

"Kagome..." Sango said under her breath.

"Can you guys tell me what happened?" Kagome asked.

Miroku shook his head just as Sango was about to say something. "We arrived late. We don't know what happened. InuYasha was the only one who was with you," the monk explained.

"But surely InuYasha told you what happened," Kagome said, her voice almost pleading them to tell her the truth of her transformations.

Miroku shook his head once more and said to her, "No. He didn't want to talk about it."

Kagome sighed and nodded. She walked away, ignoring the pain in her heart.

Once she was out of earshot, Sango sighed. Her eyes were still fixed on the spot where Kagome disappeared in the distance, and she said to the monk, "Are you sure that was the right thing to do? We could have told her what happened. We _should_ have told her."

"You saw how sad she looked already. If we told her, she may have transformed again, and we can't bring her back. That's why InuYasha should tell her instead," Miroku explained.

"That's not the only reason, is it?" Sango asked.

Miroku gave a sad chuckle. "You can see straight through me, can't you Sango dearest?"

"You were afraid that she was going to transform and kill us, weren't you?"

"...Yeah."

- - -

Kagome passed the fire that was still going in the middle of camp, and then passed the sleeping bag that she had just been using.

She had to find InuYasha, no matter what. She had to know what happened, instead of making imprecise guesses as to what may have happened while she was a youkai.

The miko passed through the clearing that served as their camp and went into the small stretch of trees that jutted out towards the lake. The night air felt cool against her skin, and the dried blood that was on her body felt itchy. She couldn't find InuYasha, and her miko powers were hardly acute enough to find his presence. Though, she would feel a twinge of his youki every so often, it wasn't enough to find _him._

Kagome went through the trees far enough to reach the edge of the cliff that the waterfall went over. Behind the waterfall was a small opening that was hardly noticeable from her side of the waterfall, and she could feel a bit of youki seeping out from there. _That must be where InuYasha is, _Kagome thought, taking off her shoes and socks.

Leaving her shoes on the shore, Kagome stepped into the water, genuinely surprised at the warmth. Though the night was cool, the water was very warm.

Kagome's skirt floated around her as she got deeper into the water, and soon enough she had to swim in it because it was so deep.

The waterfall looked thick, but Kagome swam for it as fast as she could, holding her breath right before she reached it. The miko was pushed under the water, and she had to open her eyes to make sure she was making it through.

Kagome popped up and gasped for air, and found herself in a small opening, that looked to be smaller the farther you went in.

Apprehensively, Kagome swam through the cave, the floor underneath her slowly rising until she could touch with her feet, but the top of the cave seemed to keep going lower. About half way through, the cave expanded, letting Kagome straighten up and walk through water that only reached her ankles.

The darkness of the cave was hard to see through, but soon enough the light at the end of the tunnel caught her eye.

She exited the hallway and found herself in a huge room, with InuYasha sitting on a rock in the center of it. He had a fire going in front of him, and looked over at Kagome a bit surprised.

"I didn't think that you would come all the way," InuYasha said, indicating that he had caught her scent a while back.

"Tell me what happened," Kagome said, climbing up on the rock with him.

InuYasha couldn't help but notice that Kagome's bloodstained and ripped shirt still was see-through while wet.

"InuYasha," Kagome pressed. "I need to know what happened."

InuYasha sighed. He had no choice but to tell her. "Naraku's puppet caused you to transform and you ran away from us. I followed you and you went to a village, where you refused to transform back... I couldn't help you. You wouldn't change for me, and it's my fault that you..." InuYasha couldn't finish what he was saying.

"That I what? Tell me, InuYasha!" Kagome said, tears in her eyes threatening to fall.

InuYasha avoided eye contact and said, "You slaughtered the whole village, Kagome."

Kagome couldn't say a thing, or even react. Tears just fell down her cheeks, making her skin blotchy and her eyes red. Seeking comfort, she hugged InuYasha tightly around his chest, crying into his haori.

InuYasha looked taken aback at first, but then he hugged her in return, putting his hands around her head and back. Resting his head on hers, she heard him say, "Thank you for telling me, InuYasha."

"Yeah... Well, you would have annoyed me if I didn't, wench," InuYasha replied, getting a small chuckle from Kagome in return.

_Chapter End_


	16. A Blank Face

Woo, next chapter! . Anyway, there was a bit of confusion last chapter. Maybe I worded it wrong? Well, I'm not going to be updating faster, I'm going to be updating on the same 'every other day' schedule, but I'm going to try to get chapters done early so I can update early in the day. That is all.

This is a short chapter...

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Sixteen: A Blank Face**

_Somehow, I didn't transform once I found out what I did. I suppose, with InuYasha there, it stopped me from transforming. But I wasn't thick, I knew that Sango and Miroku were treading lightly around me. Shippo was careful as well, but he still thought of me as a mother or big sister or something, so he was always happy to be with me and would try to cheer me up. InuYasha, he didn't seem to change much at all, besides the fact that he would often be nice to me, instead of insulting me every five minutes._

_I would just wish that everything would go back to normal, and I didn't have to deal with all of this any more. But like a hell on earth, it wasn't going to change any time soon._

- - -

Kagome had managed to clean the stains in her clothes to make them a dull pink, but this outfit was pretty much ruined. She had also managed to wash off the blood, but she could smell a bit of a metallic scent lingering on her skin and clothes.

The group left their hideout a few days after Kagome woke up, letting her go back to normal and get over the initial shock of having killed someone. Though, it didn't effect her as much as the miko thought it would. Kagome thought that she would be devastated, but because she couldn't remember killing anyone, she could push it out of her mind easily. She knew it was true, but the only thing that really had an effect on her was the blood that had covered her body.

Hardly a word was spoken when the group was traveling back to Kaede's village. Shippo was almost the only one who talked at all, and even he said close to nothing.

The first day of their travels, the sun was shining and the birds twittered up above. Every so often they would see a wild animal roaming around, but they could hardly see what it was because it left so quickly.

InuYasha's nose twitched as he caught a peculiar scent.

"InuYasha?" Kagome asked, noticing him straining to get his nose higher in the air.

He looked over to Kagome and then back in the air. "There's a village. It's a couple miles away. We should reach there by nightfall," InuYasha said to the group, speaking loud enough for all of them to hear.

"A village?" Sango asked.

Miroku searched through his robes and found the thing he was looking for. "It seems that we have enough money to stay at an inn," Miroku said, sighing. "I guess we're going to have to pay this time."

The rest of the group seemed to twitch in annoyance at the monk.

Their walk to the village was uneventful, and they found a decent inn to stay at. Though, Miroku made sure to get at least half off in his stay there by 'exterminating' a demon.

That night Kagome lay in the room that they were staying in, looking at the wall in front of her and thinking hard.

_Naraku said that emotions were the cause of all the transformations. Yeah, he caused one of them, but most of the transformations were caused by negative feelings,_ Kagome thought. She lowered her eyes.

_I know what I must do,_ Kagome thought, clenching her fist.

Even though she knew what she had to do, she didn't like it.

- - -

Early in the morning the group left for Kaede's village. They traveled as quickly as they could, though they did come across a couple smaller demons that were easily dealt with with a quick slash of InuYasha's claws.

"Kagome?" InuYasha said when they were walking at a normal pace again. "You haven't been talking much, is anything wrong?"

Kagome glanced at InuYasha and gave him a sad smile. "You're such a dope. That's a stupid question to ask," said the miko, her smile fading a bit into a fake one.

InuYasha frowned. "Well, I was just curious since you were acting different. Like you were throwing away any emotion... like you were..." InuYasha didn't finish.

"Like I was Kikyou?" Kagome asked, an emotionless mask going over her features.

InuYasha nodded and Kagome sighed and looked at the path before them instead of at InuYasha. "Naraku said that emotions trigger the transformations. If I get rid of them, then it will be harder to transform. And I heard that the less emotions you have, the more power you have as a miko," Kagome said, her eyes glazing over.

"You don't need to become more powerful or give up emotions!" InuYasha shouted, glaring at Kagome.

Kagome refrained from getting angry. "Yes I do. I've felt myself changing... My aura is different," said Kagome.

InuYasha looked confused. He sniffed the air and his eyes widened in surprise. "You smell a bit like a youkai..." he whispered.

Kagome nodded, confirming what InuYasha said.

"Look, these transformations shouldn't change anything about you!" InuYasha shouted, glaring at Kagome. She didn't look at him, but he could see that her emotionless mask was slipping. "You don't have to lose your feelings, or become more powerful! You're Kagome, and I wouldn't change you for anything!"

Kagome gasped, not looking at InuYasha.

Sango and Miroku watched, wide eyed as InuYasha said the right thing for once. Shippo watched as well, but didn't seem as interested.

When the miko looked at InuYasha, she had tears in her eyes. Then, just as soon as she blinked and the tears slid down her cheeks, Kagome hugged InuYasha tightly around his neck.

"Thank you, InuYasha," Kagome said, backing up a bit, "but I _do_ need to become a more powerful miko. Maybe I can do it without changing my feelings, but it will be hard."

Kagome let go and started to walk away, but heard Miroku say to InuYasha, "Well, I see someone was getting comfortable."

"You bastard!" InuYasha shouted, his face turning as red as a tomato. Kagome's face was turning a similar color.

"AHH!" Miroku shouted as InuYasha started to chase him in circles, threatening to pound his face into the ground.

Kagome turned around and smiled, and InuYasha stopped when he heard something he didn't think that he'd hear in a while. He stopped trying to hit Miroku into the ground and smiled as he watched Kagome get red in the face from laughing.

_Chapter End_


	17. Hope

A new chapter. Yay! Ok, I've decided that I can't procrastinate anymore! I'm going to finish this chapter beforehand and make sure I stick to my updating schedule! But now that I say this, I bet I won't finish it on time and then I'll procrastinate again.

Oh, guess what, though! I just watched Star Wars, Episode I and Episode II... You may see that leaking into my writing.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Seventeen: Hope**

_After the curse, that was one of the few times that I actually laughed. It seemed that for a while after that, everyone was happier and things were going back to normal._

_But, things don't always stay the same, and there's always the jewel to take care of. _

_Both of them._

- - -

It took them a few more days to reach Kaede's village. Once there, Kagome decided that she needed to go home and rest up a bit. She didn't complain much when InuYasha said that he was coming as well.

Five minutes after Kagome got into her room to work on some homework, InuYasha said, "I'm bored!"

"Be quiet, InuYasha! I'm trying to work!" Kagome shouted, turning around and glaring at InuYasha.

"Keh," InuYasha spat out, glaring back at Kagome and relaxing on the bed.

Kagome huffed in annoyance and turned around, looking at her homework. "You don't have to be here, you know!"

InuYasha didn't answer, but just continued to look at her, his glare slowly leaving.

The small amount of youki that surrounded Kagome made InuYasha sick. He hated seeing her like this, though at the moment, it didn't seem to bother her.

Kagome was just happy that her friends hadn't told anyone of Kagome's time traveling, because if they did there would be cops searching her house and the surrounding area, or her friends were in an insane asylum. Though, she couldn't be sure that the last one wasn't true.

The hanyou continued to watch Kagome work, not saying anything and being patient for once. It seemed that she had forgotten that he was there, and he was fine with that at the moment. He just wanted to watch her.

After a while, Ms. Higurashi called the two of them down for dinner. Though, it seemed a bit odd that InuYasha had to drag the miko away from her studies to feed her.

Their dinner was a bit happier than most dinners that Kagome and InuYasha had been experiencing. This time, Kagome was not unconscious, she was not killing anyone, or she was not trying to pretend to be emotionless to protect everyone else. She was just being herself.

Ms. Higurashi couldn't help but notice the frequent glances that InuYasha gave to Kagome. It wasn't one of lust or love or anything, it was just concern and worry.

"So, InuYasha, have you been taking good care of my daughter?" Ms. Higurashi asked, smiling brightly.

InuYasha looked up from his food and at Kagome's mother. He had been rather quiet during dinner. "Uh... I guess you could say that," InuYasha said.

"What do you think, Kagome?" Ms. Higurashi asked.

Kagome looked at her food and tried to hide the blush creeping on her face with her hair. "Yeah," Kagome said, not looking at anyone.

"Yeah" didn't seem much like an answer to the question, but Ms. Higurashi took it nonetheless.

"Have you finished whatever you're doing there, yet?" Souta asked.

Kagome looked up at him and blinked. "You mean putting the Shikon Jewel back together?" Souta nodded at the question. Kagome shook her head in reply. "No, I'm afraid not. We've got a long way to go," Kagome answered.

Though, she had realized that nearly everyone in their group had a reason to fight Naraku now. Shippo didn't really count, he never fought, but the others had something to fight for.

_Miroku has the wind tunnel, Sango had her family slaughtered, and InuYasha's and Kikyou's lives were ruined, not to mention Kikyou died twice. And it was all done by Naraku. And now he's done this to me... I suppose that the only thing we can do is stop him before he hurts anyone else,_ Kagome thought, her eyes lowering to her barely touched food.

Kagome's stomach growled and she realized how hungry she actually was. With all the transforming and being knocked out for who knows how many days, she hadn't eaten much lately. The miko started shoving in her food in a manner reminiscent of InuYasha.

Once they were all finished, Kagome went upstairs to study some more and InuYasha came along, watching her study until he fell asleep on her bed.

Kagome watched him sleep for a while. He seemed content laying on her bed, so she left him and just curled up where there was room, not even changing out of her clothes.

- - -

"Crap! I'm late!" shouted Kagome as she shut off her alarm that had been ringing for almost fifteen minutes. Kagome quickly packed up her stuff and straightened her hair, readying herself for the school day.

InuYasha groggily walked to the table in the dining room and started eating the breakfast that was set out for him, but Kagome just grabbed her stuff and a piece of toast.

"InuYasha, don't go outside unless you're wearing a hat, okay? Bye!" Kagome said, not waiting for answers from him and sticking her toast in her mouth.

She ran off to the school, chowing down her toast as fast as she could and wiping away any crumbs that accumulated on her shirt or face.

Once she arrived at school, all of her friends, Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, and even Hojo, ran up to her and held out a small folder of papers.

"What's this?" Kagome asked, taking the papers from Eri, who had handed them to the miko.

"It's information about the Bachiatari Jewel," Eri said, holding up a finger in explination.

Yuka chimed in with, "We couldn't find much information about it on the Internet, but we _did_ find some."

Kagome smiled. "Really?"

Ayumi nodded. "There are two and a half ways to get rid of it.

"... Two and a half?" Kagome asked with a dry tone.

Hojo smiled and explained, "She means that there are two ways that we're mostly positive that will work, and one that we're not really sure of."

"And you needed a folder's full of pages to tell me these three things?" Kagome asked.

"No," Eri said, frowning. "Those are the different legends we could find about it. Some of them are pretty long."

"Well, what are the ways I can get rid of the jewel, then?" Kagome asked hopefully.

"The one we're not sure of is killing the demon that put it in your back," Yuka said carefully.

_Like I couldn't figure that one out, _Kagome thought to herself. "We're already trying to do that," she explained.

"Oh... Well, the one that you don't really want to do, but is an option anyway, is dying," Eri said, looking at the ground and cringing at the last word.

Kagome looked down. _I could figure out that one too._

"But the last one is the good one, but it might be a bit hard," Hojo said, blushing a little bit. "The last way to get rid of the jewel is to have someone love you," Hojo said, looking at the ground.

_Love?_ Kagome asked herself. _I've got a couple of pursuers, Hojo and Kouga, but do they really love me? Kouga says he does, but I'm not sure. And Hojo just has a crush on me. He doesn't know me well enough to love me. And InuYasha... He doesn't love me. That would be too much to hope for._ Kagome's thoughts wandered over the subject before the school bell brought her out of her reverie.

The rest of the school day was the usual. Though, people seemed to either ask Kagome what that thing was about before, or stay away from her. She didn't really care anymore, though. It didn't matter to her.

Soon enough the school day was over and Kagome went home, glad that she could relax for a little bit before going back to the Sengoku Jidai.

She decided she would take a nap before dinner, so she did. Kagome was shaken awake by none other than the impatient hanyou that was visiting. _No doubt Mama told him that we couldn't eat until I was at the table,_ Kagome thought.

The dinner was good for Kagome, the meals that they had while traveling got boring quickly. They didn't have anything new ever.

So, after dinner, Kagome went upstairs and studied again.

The school girl was so immersed in her studies that she didn't notice the footsteps come into her room, or someone sit down on her bed. Though, she did notice InuYasha clearing his throat.

Kagome turned around, not at all angry, but a bit surprised. That was unexpected. Now, InuYasha was the one surprised, since she wasn't angry.

"Yes?" Kagome asked patiently.

InuYasha cleared his throat. "I... uh..."

Suddenly Souta popped in and said in a deep, hoarse voice, "A nerd, Kagome is!"

"Ha ha, very funny, Yoda," Kagome mocked. She stuck out her tongue at Souta and said to him, "Run, should you do, or kill you, I will!" Kagome's threat hung in the air and Souta scurried off to his room, giggling a little bit.

Kagome sighed and rubbed her forehead. Her brother could be so annoying!

The miko turned to InuYasha. "What did you want to say to me, again?" Kagome asked, her head turning sideways a bit.

"Oh. Yeah," said the hanyou, looking at his right hand.

"See, your mom was looking through this stuff, and I saw something in there that I thought that you might like," InuYasha said, holding out his fist. Kagome put her hand under his and he opened it, dropping something hard and warm into her palm.

Kagome looked closer. There was some white, silky ribbon and a small, round piece of metal on it, much like a dog collar except not as sturdy. The metal said something, and Kagome read it out loud. "Hope," she said quietly. It was very fitting for the circumstance.

"Oh, Kagome! Don't cry!" InuYasha said, waving his hands out in front of him. "If you don't like it, you don't have to keep it!" he finished hurriedly.

Kagome looked up at him confused and wiped at her eyes. "I didn't realize I was crying," Kagome said, laughing a bit. She smiled and tied the ribbon around her neck, making sure it was secure before looking up at InuYasha. "Thank you, InuYasha. It means a lot to me," thanked Kagome before turning around and looking at her papers.

Though, she couldn't really think anymore.

But maybe...

No.

Kagome pushed the thought out of her mind.

She knew that it wouldn't happen, not in a million years.

But she could hope.

_End Chapter_


	18. Just Like Old Times

Just so you know, my story is plotted out before hand. I'm not going to change it, so don't give me suggestions on what should happen in future chapters, okay? Those sort of reviews bug me. I don't care if you guess what happens, but please don't tell me what to do.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Eighteen: Just Like Old Times**

_Love. The thought of love saving me was laughable. How could anyone love me in this state? And using that to cure me sounded like a child's fairy tale. It didn't make any sense._

_But, I felt love for InuYasha after he gave me that necklace. And I still have it. Somehow, it hasn't rusted or lost its shine, but the silk ribbon that is used to tie the necklace is stained and frayed a bit. Though, I didn't have the heart to get a new ribbon._

_Hope; that is what the necklace says. I look to that in times of sorrow, and to be reminded of the person I love._

- - -

Kagome got out of the well and arched her, her spine cracking in numerous places. She had slept wrong, but a simple stretch had made her feel as good as new.

The miko reached for her newly replenished backpack, but InuYasha got it before her and put it on his shoulder, walking in front of Kagome towards the village.

Though Kagome had walked the path so many times before, she felt like she noticed something new every time she walked to the village. She saw some mushrooms on the ground, and she also saw a dead bird. She almost had the urge to go over to it and bury it.

The sun fell through the leaves in little blotches along the path that had been worn by Kagome, and people before her going to the well for whatever reason they had to.

InuYasha snapped Kagome out of her thoughts when he said, "Kagome, look out for that tree."

Kagome stopped right in front of a tree, her nose barely touching the bark. How could she not see that?

"Sorry," Kagome said quickly, hurrying off to catch up to the hanyou in front of her.

"You're such a klutz. If you didn't have me here you'd be dead in five minutes," InuYasha said, glaring at Kagome.

"We've gone through this before, InuYasha," Kagome said, not looking at him.

InuYasha growled. "Yeah, but it doesn't seem to get through your thick..." InuYasha stopped mid sentence and quit walking.

"InuYasha?" Kagome asked, looking at him sniff the air. "What is it?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha growled more fiercely now. "Naraku."

Kagome nodded and said, "Well, let's get the others and go."

The two of them ran towards the village, InuYasha not running at his usual pace so Kagome could keep up, and barged into the hut.

Barely glancing at the startled faces of their friends, InuYasha blurted out, "We're leaving!"

Seeing that InuYasha was too vague, Kagome said to Sango, Miroku and Shippo, "InuYasha caught Naraku's scent."

Understanding that InuYasha wasn't going to take no for an answer, the others started to pack their things and get ready to leave, a little slower than usual. InuYasha waited impatiently outside, his leg tapping against the ground as he sat cross-legged on the roof.

Once they were all ready, InuYasha practically pushed them out of the village, though all of them were eager to get going to an extent.

"This time it's him, and not just a puppet," InuYasha explained, trudging out in front.

Miroku was thinking carefully. "Well, either Naraku has gotten careless, or more likely he's leading us to a trap," said the monk, tapping his chin.

"Who cares? It's been so quiet lately," InuYasha spat.

They all followed InuYasha without their complaints voiced, but soon enough Kagome persuaded him to let them rest. Poor Shippo was hardly standing up, and InuYasha could smell the fatigue on the rest of the humans, especially Kagome.

_All this transforming shit must be taking a huge toll on her,_ InuYasha thought as Kagome told him that they needed to rest.

"Yeah, sure," he said, not arguing with her a bit.

Kagome's eyes widened. _What's going on with him? He's not putting up a fight or anything! And he did this once before, too!_ Kagome thought, watching InuYasha leap up into a tree to watch over the camp.

Most of the members of their party were too tired to eat, so they all went to bed early, except InuYasha who raided Kagome's backpack for chips.

- - -

Sango awoke to the smell of breakfast. Surprisingly, she was the last one up, but she did have a lot on her mind, and for once, it wasn't just about Kohaku or the monk.

All night the exterminator had thought about Kagome and what would happen to her. She didn't know how to be supportive of Kagome when she was in such a condition, and could kill any one of them at any time.

She got up and straightened her hair out, a bit embarrassed to be seen like she was. Though, the others had similar hairstyles that morning. The only one who seemed to be fully awake was Kagome, who was dishing up Sango's food.

Not really caring, Sango took her breakfast and sat next to Kagome, eating her food and not paying attention to her surroundings.

"Sango, are you alright?" Kagome asked, looking at Sango sadly.

Sango looked at Kagome for a few moments before realizing what the younger girl had said. She seemed to wake up by saying, "Oh! No, I'm sorry. I was just thinking, that's all." Sango put on a small smile, and Kagome smiled back, turning to eat the rest of her meal.

_There's a rift between us now; I feel it. It's because I can't help her... Isn't it? Or maybe I can, but I'm not doing it right,_ Sango thought to herself. InuYasha could help her, but Kagome didn't realize it. Sango knew that the miko wasn't as dense with friendships compared to love.

Right when the last person finished eating, they packed up and set off, leaving nothing behind but a few ashes from the fire.

They traveled at a walking pace, much to InuYasha's dismay. Everyone seemed lost in thought, and usually their thoughts strayed somewhere close to Kagome and her curse.

_How can we get the jewel out?_ Kagome asked herself. _A human cannot get rid of the jewel, and if we don't defeat Naraku this time, then I may have to try to use love to get rid of the jewel. But would that work? Will anything work?_ Kagome quietly sighed. She felt trapped, like nothing was going to help her out of this, and she was just digging herself deeper into this mess.

Miroku was thinking about Kagome too. _Her curse... it's a bit like mine, in a way. It slowly eats her alive, but hers is more mental than physical. But I've noticed much more youki in her aura. Her spirit is becoming stained. If we don't get it out soon, she may become a full demon. And I am not helping her very much. I suppose I should probably be more supportive,_ Miroku told himself, looking at his right palm. He was looking at his hand a lot more lately, Miroku had felt it growing bigger. He thought that it might not be long now.

"He's near a village," InuYasha said to the people walking behind him. "Or at least he was for a while. I can smell him."

The others nodded or didn't answer him. They just were eager to get this over with.

Sango readied her weapon, and she had taken her kimono off and straightened up her exterminator outfit before they left camp.

The sun was starting to set, and they would have to rest soon, though none of them seemed very tired when they learned that Naraku may be near the town that they were going to.

Soon enough, the town was in sight, and there was a strange youki coming from it, but it wasn't Naraku's.

"Naraku isn't there," Kagome said to the others, in case they hadn't already noticed.

InuYasha glared. "He was earlier. He moved to the mountains just recently," explained the hanyou.

"We'll have to travel up there tomorrow," Miroku said, looking around for an inn.

Sango looked at what Miroku was doing and asked, "Aren't we going to get rid of that youki around the town?"

Miroku brightened and looked at Sango with a wide smile. "You're right, Sango! We can get food, shelter and women that way!" Sango's Hiraikotsu met with the monk's head. "Did I say women? I meant drinks."

"Sure you did," Shippo muttered as he sat on InuYasha's shoulder, causing InuYasha to nod in reply.

"What an idiot," the hanyou said.

Kagome said to the group, "We better get going. It will be easier if we get rid of whatever youkai is there if we do it before sundown." She walked into the village, leading the others until InuYasha caught up with her.

They tracked down the village headman and explained the situation, telling him about Naraku and the strange youki around the village. He quickly agreed to let them stay in the finest inn if they got rid of the youkai in the village.

"I sense the youki coming from that direction," Sango said, nodding her head towards a river. They made their way over to the river and found a hut.

A strange smell was coming out of it, and it was a wonder that no one had investigated it before.

"It smells awful!" Shippo exclaimed, burying his face in the back of Kagome's shirt.

"It smells like death," InuYasha said, glaring at the door before him. Bits of youki would seep out every so often, but otherwise, only the smell was coming out.

"Let's go," Sango ordered, walking towards the door. She went to push it aside, but was thrown back by a barrier.

Miroku caught the exterminator, half in his arms, and half by her landing on him. The force of the barrier threw her back several feet, and threw her up who knows how many yards.

"A barrier... how do we get through?" Miroku asked, taking a rub off Sango's butt. His reply was a quick slap across the cheek as Sango got off of him.

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she said, "Funny, I don't see a barrier."

"Neither do I," InuYasha said.

"I do!" Shippo exclaimed, and was backed up by Kirara.

Sango glared at the ground. "I don't know why _I_ didn't notice it at first."

"Well, I'm going to try to go in," Kagome said, walking confidently towards the door. She closed her eyes and held out her hand, trying to see if she would touch anything, but the only thing she touched was the door flap, and she was through.

"You moron! Don't go off by yourself!" InuYasha shouted, running in after her.

Sango and Miroku were taken by surprise.

"Why could they go through?" Sango asked.

Miroku had thought this over quickly and then said, "I think it's because InuYasha's a hanyou."

"And Kagome?"

"The Bachiatari Jewel has tainted her aura with youki, and no doubt her blood. Whoever made the barrier may have forgotten about any hanyou, or maybe that's who they're trying to lure inside."

"So, it could be a trap," Sango summed up.

"Yeah," Miroku answered, not taking his gaze from the door.

- - -

Kagome looked around. _There's nothing here... _she thought, looking up at the ceiling.

"Kagome, what were you thinking? What if there was something that could hurt you in here?" InuYasha shouted at the miko.

Kagome sighed and walked towards the other end of the hut. "InuYasha, I'm fine. Don't worry about meeeEEEEEEEAAAHHHHH!" The wood cracked and fell through, causing Kagome to fall with it. InuYasha obediently followed, not daring to let Kagome out of his sight for a minute.

"Oomph!" Kagome said as she landed hard on her butt. She stood up and rubbed her backside in pain, stretching back a bit as well.

"What did I tell ya?" InuYasha asked.

Kagome ignored him and looked down the long underground hallway they were in.

"Do you see that down there? Something's glowing!" Kagome said, running.

"Don't change the subject on me!" InuYasha yelled, following the miko down the long hallway.

The hallway soon stopped and led into a large room with millions of giant green glowing orbs stuck along the wall. All of them were pulsating, and it felt like someone had the music speakers on too loud and was shaking the whole house.

"What are they?" Kagome asked, looking around.

"I think they're eggs," InuYasha answered.

Kagome took a step forward into the room and her feet started to sink down.

She gave a loud shriek upon seeing the millions of different sized eggs on the ground, all of them pulsing, and the one she stepped in sucking her leg inside.

"Kagome!" InuYasha called, running over to her and yanking her out. The egg that she had stepped in popped and sent the liquid-goo inside it flowing all over the floor. That was when InuYasha realized that the whole floor was covered in that goo, and even the walls and ceilings had it on them. As the eggs grew bigger, the ones that had a weaker outside or were too close together would pop and feed the remaining eggs.

The two intruders heard shifting above them, and they looked up at the massive ceiling. At first they saw nothing, but then a giant head shaped like a woman's face flew down at them, her long, black neck suspending her from the ceiling.

"More hanyous! Wait... This one's a human!" the female youkai hissed. "How did you get through my barrier? It only allows those with human and youkai blood inside!"

Kagome started to look worried. Then it hit her. _Is the Bachiatari Jewel changing my human blood into a youkai's blood?_ Her eyes widened. That couldn't be true! But that was the only reasonable explination.

"Why do you need hanyous?" InuYasha shouted, ignoring Kagome's shock for the moment.

"Many reasons, actually. They are not as strong as youkai, but their blood is not as weak as a humans! They are easy to defeat, but hold a good amount of nutrients in them for my babies. Besides, when they die, no one misses them," the youkai said, obviously hitting a nerve in InuYasha.

The hanyou's face turned to one of anger, but before he could retort, Kagome shouted at the youkai, "You're wrong! There are many people who would miss InuYasha if he was killed, and I'm one of them!"

The demon glared at Kagome and said to her, "You're a disgusting little human. I think I should get rid of you."

Before Kagome could even think about grabbing an arrow out of her quiver, the woman slashed her long tongue out at the miko and threw her into one of the largest eggs, not popping it, but getting stuck inside.

"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted, watching as Kagome thrashed at the sides of the egg, holding her breath so she wouldn't drown from the liquid inside and trying to pop it open. She even took an arrow to it and used all her spiritual power to try to break it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Ha ha! Those eggs will not break from the inside unless my babies are ready to hatch!" the gray faced youkai yelled triumphantly.

InuYasha growled and jumped up, attacking the mother youkai with his claws. She evaded him by moving her neck, but InuYasha yanked out his sword and jumped off the nearest egg, slashing through the air at the youkai.

Her head fell to the ground, spewing blood everywhere.

"Foolish hanyou! I can regenerate!" she shouted, her neck slowly stretching down to reach her head.

"You're the foolish one, InuYasha said, continuing to cut off parts of the youkai's body.

Before the youkai could retort with a witty comeback, she started screaming as the babies that she loved so much started to suck her into their eggs.

InuYasha ignored her screams and went over to Kagome, holding his claws out and breaking open the egg that she was in, almost unconscious for holding her breath for so long.

The goo rushed all over and Kagome was caught in InuYasha's arms, desperately wanting air and a bath.

"You wait here," InuYasha commanded as he set down Kagome in the hallway they used to come in.

The glowing eggs were destroyed quickly by InuYasha's claws, and he carried Kagome back, ignoring her protests of saying that she could walk by herself.

- - -

Kagome sighed and washed out all the goo and soap mixed up in her hair. A nice, hot bath in an inn was nice, and she was as relaxed as they could get...

That is, until InuYasha walked in at the monk's suggestion to take a bath.

He stood there, looking at Kagome for a bit, until he walked out and stood outside the door, blushing furiously.

"InuYasha..." came a warning voice from outside the door. The hanyou's eyes widened. He hadn't heard that voice in a _long_ time, and he wasn't happy to hear it now.

"SIT!"

_End Chapter_


	19. Falling Through

The next chapter! Yays! . Anyway, school starts tomorrow... well, when I'm writing this. So, when you guys are going to read this, school started yesterday. It started on the fifth, okay? Anyway, I can't tell you how it went yet, because it didn't happen... Well, when you read this it will have happened, but if I haven't written the next chapter before school started, I'll tell you how it went there. Anyway, on to the chapter, and may the FORCE BE WITH YOU. -shifty eyes- Yeah, I watched a bunch of Star Wars movies.

Edit (though, it's before the chapter is out...) : Okay, I'm not going to be able to update as often. Either I'll try to update once every three days, or once a week. Though, I am taking driver's ed...

Edit: AGH! I forgot to put the chapter up! Ok, you guys will get two chapters because I'm such a loser, but please, review both!

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Nineteen: Falling Through**

_We hadn't found Naraku yet, but I could tell that we were close. But how could we find him if he had evaded us for so long? Were we just going on a wild goose chase?_

_The news of my blood turning into a youkai's was horrifying, though I think that everyone else knew it but me. InuYasha and Shippo would be able to smell it in my blood, and I'm sure Miroku could sense the increasing youki in my aura. That, and Sango told me what they had found out by InuYasha. InuYasha had explained to them that while we were fighting that female youkai, she had said that my blood was being replaced by that of a youkai's. He also suspected as much._

_When Sango told me, I wasn't really surprised, since I had been there when that youkai told me what was going on._

_Could I really be turning into a monster? Did I have a way to save myself? If I could save myself, would I be on time?_

_Only the future could tell, but I was afraid of what was to come._

- - -

"Today we're going to find him," InuYasha said, looking off towards the mountain that Naraku's scent was coming from.

Shippo sighed and said, "If you say so, InuYasha."

Kagome agreed with Shippo. Naraku could flee all he wanted and the rest of them would never even hope to catch up to him. But that's one of the things that she loved about InuYasha. No matter how grim the situation looks, he always keeps going and has a positive outlook, though it may not seem like it. Kagome smiled at him and nodded.

"I'm ready!" Kagome cheered, trying to make herself feel more confident.

"Me too," Sango said, adjusting her Hiraikotsu and Kirara mewing on her shoulder.

"As am I," Miroku added.

"Let's go!" Shippo yelled out, pumping his tiny fist into the air.

So they set off, making their way to the mountain. It would be late until they would make it up to the top, but they knew that they wouldn't tire as easily if they took frequent breaks.

As they climbed, whenever one of the members of the party, usually Shippo and never InuYasha, was tired, they would all take a break.

At noon, they all ate generous lunches, giving themselves energy for the climb, and the battle that they sensed was coming.

Through her calm exterior, Kagome was a bit worried. Everyone could feel that it was going to be a hard battle, but Kagome felt something else.

She could almost feel the youkai blood in her stirring.

Whenever she felt it yearn for blood, she would clasp her hands around the few jewel shards that they had obtained. There weren't many, but they were pure, and that's what mattered.

InuYasha felt anxious for battle as well, but he just wanted to kick some ass. His glare hardened as he led the group behind him up the mountain, sniffing out Naraku.

Kagome's eyes widened. "I sense the Shikon Jewel!" she exclaimed suddenly.

Everyone looked at her in surprise, even though it shouldn't have been a surprise at all.

_I would have thought that Naraku would have kept the Shikon Jewel hidden, or at least tried to keep it undetectable by Kagome, _Miroku thought. He looked at the others, all of them slowing down as they reached the top. Even though Kagome had said she sensed the jewel, they had not stopped to contemplate this.

"I sense a trap," Miroku said, tapping his finger on his chin.

"Well, we're just gonna have to play into it," InuYasha said. "It's the only way that we'll get to Naraku, because the scent stops up here."

"I wonder what he's planning," Sango said, her voice sounding confident. Then she thought, _I hope it has nothing to do with Kagome, but lately, that's what all his plans have in common._

Noon quickly changed to dusk, and the group had reached the top of the mountain. Before they decided to go off and look for Naraku up there, they all rested their bones and surveyed the area.

After a few minutes, InuYasha said to them, "Let's go. His scent goes this way."

"But the jewel goes that way," Kagome said, pointing in the opposite direction.

While the miko and hanyou glared at each other, Miroku stepped up and said, "Why don't we split up? Kirara will lead Sango and I towards Naraku's scent, and Kagome will lead InuYasha and Shippo towards the jewel."

"That works," Kagome said, receiving a nod from most of the others.

InuYasha frowned. "Keh. That's stupid."

"Do you have a better idea?" Kagome inquired.

InuYasha looked at her for a moment before turning towards the direction the jewel was in and saying, "Well? Are ya gonna show me where that jewel is or not?"

Kagome 'hmph'ed and walked off, the jewel determining the path before her. InuYasha and Shippo obediently followed, and Miroku, Sango and Kirara went the other way.

- - -

"We haven't found anything yet. Maybe Naraku left," Sango said as she followed the large demon cat.

"Kirara wouldn't keep going if she didn't think that Naraku was here," Miroku said, watching the nekomata as she slowed down while sniffing the ground like a dog.

Soon enough, Kirara stopped in the middle of a small clearing. She sniffed the ground and the other two stopped next to her.

"I don't think it's a good idea to be stopping," Sango said, looking at the oddly placed clearing that they were in. She had a bad feeling.

Miroku looked around and shrugged. "I don't feel any youki around here," Miroku said.

Right when he finished saying that, the ground beneath them collapsed and the two humans and youkai fell, all of them worried about their safety.

"I don't think that's what we should be worried about!" Sango shouted at Miroku. She managed to move over towards Kirara who was straightening out and would make sure to stop before they hit the ground, wherever that was.

Sango got on Kirara and grabbed Miroku, yanking him on back.

"Keep going down, Kirara! Follow Naraku's scent!" Sango ordered, hanging on tightly to Kirara's neck, but not managing to hurt the youkai.

- - -

"The jewel goes down from here," Kagome explained, kneeling down and glaring at the ground. "The ground feels different here, somehow," Kagome also said, looking around them. It wasn't a clearing that they were in, but there was an odd space in-between the trees.

InuYasha stepped towards Kagome and stopped, feeling the ground moving more than it should beneath his foot.

"I think we've found the trap Miroku was talking about," InuYasha said, before the ground collapsed and sent the three of them falling into a huge hole.

InuYasha quickly grabbed Kagome, trying to shield her from any impact that the ground may have. He put his feet down and ignored the consistant tugging in his hair that was Shippo trying to hold on for dear life.

Kagome screamed, trying to get her bearings, but not managing very well.

Kagome looked up and screamed out, "InuYasha! Watch out!"

InuYasha looked up as well and tried to move before a large rock hit him in the head, but he failed and was knocked out. Shippo seeing this, said to himself, "Now that InuYasha's done, I have to save us!"

Shippo managed to go in front of Kagome and InuYasha and transform in time for them to have a soft landing. The miko and hanyou bounced on the large bubble-like Shippo, Kagome holding onto InuYasha to make sure that he wouldn't fall to the ground.

Kagome's grasp loosened, and she accidentally let go, causing InuYasha to fall, and her to fall with him.

She was only a few feet from the ground when she let go, but the fall caused her to roll backwards several meters.

"Ooh..." Kagome said, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. She opened one eye and saw InuYasha slowly getting up, with Shippo by his side, poking the large lump on the back of his head.

"InuYasha!" Kagome said, smiling and running over to them. She stopped when she heard a strange sound above her.

"Will you quit that, Shippo?" InuYasha shouted at the kitsune poking his head. The hanyou slapped away Shippo's hand.

The two of them noticed that Kagome stopped running and the noise that was coming from the surrounding area.

"What's that?" asked the kitsune.

InuYasha looked up and saw the ceiling start to crack.

"Kagome! Look out!" InuYasha yelled, causing Kagome to stumble back just in time to avoid being hit by a giant boulder. More rocks tumbled to the ground, and InuYasha was afraid that the ceiling would collapse on Kagome on the other side.

Once the rocks quit falling and had made a thick wall of stone, InuYasha ran over to the hill and started moving some of the rocks in the way.

"Kagome! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" InuYasha yelled through the rocks.

Kagome stood there, her clothes a little dusty, but otherwise okay. "I'm fine, InuYasha."

InuYasha nodded and said, "I'm going to try to get through! I'll have to move these by hand, though. If I use the Tetsusaiga I may hurt you."

"That will take too long; there's a tunnel behind you, and there's one on this side, too. You go through that tunnel and see where it takes you. This way there's the Shikon Jewel," Kagome explained.

InuYasha's eyes widened. "No! Naraku will kill you! Wait for me to get there!" InuYasha shouted, glaring at the rocks.

"I have to! Besides, I may be important to him. He might not kill me because of the Bachiatari Jewel," Kagome said. "Hurry, InuYasha! I'm going to go now!"

"Stop, Kagome!" InuYasha shouted, glaring at the rocks. He could hear faint footsteps, but they faded away quickly.

For a few moments InuYasha just stood there, up against the rocks. Then he turned to Shippo and grabbed him by his tail, taking the kitsune with him down the tunnel.

- - -

"Do we go down this way?" Sango asked, pointing down the path to the right from where they entered.

"Well, either path may go to the same spot," Miroku said, looking from one path to the other.

Kirara was too confused. Naraku's scent went both ways, so she couldn't decide what way to go.

Suddenly her head went up and she looked down the tunnel to the left.

"What is it, Kirara?" Sango asked, looking down the tunnel as well. All of them watched, and soon Miroku and Sango could see a bit of white running towards them. The tunnel's faint light soon let them see that it was InuYasha with Shippo in his hand and he looked distraught.

When he was near them, and running really fast, he started to yell quickly, "KagomegotseperatedsonowI'mtryingtofindherandtakeShippowithyou!" The hanyou threw the kitsune at Miroku as he ran by, sending everyone's hair flying back from the wind that he caused from his speed.

"Kagome got separated?" Sango asked, looking down where InuYasha ran.

"How did you understand him?" Miroku asked, turning to Sango.

She smiled sadly. "Kohaku. My little brother would always do that when we had a demon attack," Sango explained.

Miroku smiled a bit, happy that Sango had opened up to him, but then it hit him. His eyes widened and he shouted, "Oh, crap! Kagome got separated?"

Shippo popped up from his position on the ground and said, "By a bunch of falling rocks! And she went to fight Naraku!"

Miroku and Sango turned to look at each other for a second before taking Shippo and riding Kirara after the hanyou.

- - -

Kagome stood up, cradling her ankle a bit. It didn't hurt very much, but she had tripped on some loose rocks. The tunnel had started to make a decline, and any loose rocks worked like marbles.

She gripped her bow and single arrow in her hand tightly, ready to shoot whenever she had to.

The miko saw a light in front of her, and it just got brighter as she got closer, as lights at the end of a tunnel usually do. It was like the one she saw just last night with the mother youkai and her eggs, except this was less green, and more yellow.

Soon enough, Kagome could see what was inside.

"Naraku!" Kagome shouted, notching the arrow in her hand and pulling it back against the string.

Kagome's eyes widened as she felt a strange sensation in her back. She let go of the arrow before causing the bow to fall to the ground, clattering against the rock that it hit.

The miko grabbed her head and started to rub her palms against her temples.

Naraku avoided Kagome's arrow easily and smirked at the miko's situation. His influence was working well.

She continued to rub her temples, chanting, "No. No. No. Not now. Please not now!"

The air seemed to pulse around Kagome, and suddenly her nails started to grow at an extraordinary rate, and black, leathery wings tore through her shirt once more. Before she could feel bad about losing another shirt, her mind was completely taken over by the demon within.

- - -

"There!" InuYasha exclaimed, seeing the light in front of him. Kirara had been trailing behind, but had slowly started to catch up. InuYasha's eyes widened as the scents from the large room entered his nose.

"Oh no."

InuYasha continued to run, at an even faster pace yet. Once he reached the room, he skidded to a halt, turning to face Naraku and his new puppet.

"Naraku," InuYasha hissed.

The shape shifter smirked. "InuYasha. So you came," he said, the tentacles coming from his body slithering around him quietly.

InuYasha took out his sword and sent a Kongousouha blast towards Naraku, destroying any barrier that he may have had.

Kagome readied herself for attack, as did everyone else.

Just as Sango sent her Hiraikotsu flying towards Naraku, Kagome bolted towards the exterminator, fully intent on killing her.

_Chapter End_


	20. Independence

Whoo, man, it's been a while... The keyboard is all greasy. :P

Anyway, the reason I didn't update is because of school and my birthday on the weekend. I'm sorry that I haven't been writing lately. I'm going to have to pick a day to update on, but Thursday is a stupid day for that, so I'm gonna pick a different day.

I'm also sorry that I can't give you a long chapter. I haven't found my muse lately.

I'm very, very sorry!

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twenty: Independence**

_And so, I was going to kill them. I don't even know how I came to be under Naraku's control that time. Somewhat remembered it afterwards, which came as a huge surprise._

_But I was a monster, ready to kill anything in my way._

- - -

Sango gasped and jumped back as Kagome swung her claws at the other girl. Seeing that she missed, Kagome ran at her again but was pushed to the ground by a blur of red and white.

InuYasha pinned Kagome to the ground, his hands holding tightly onto her wrists and his knees keeping her legs to the ground. His brow was furrowed in anger, but his eyes were hurt and empty.

"Kagome, go back to normal," InuYasha whispered to her. Kagome bared her newly grown fangs at him and a deep growl came from her throat.

"This _is_ normal, fool," Kagome answered, her eyes flaring with anger.

InuYasha shook his head, causing his hair to fall, creating a curtain around them. "No. Normal is not this. Normal is a kind and gentle woman who doesn't let shit like this get her!" InuYasha shouted.

Kagome's eyes widened, but then they narrowed again. She managed to release her left arm and pushed him away, sending him a good ten feet away from her. She stood and turned away from her friends and faced Naraku.

The miko grabbed the jewel shards around her neck and clasped onto them tightly, and soon her anger was placed in a different place.

"You're going to die, hanyou," Kagome said, running towards Naraku.

"She freed herself from Naraku's control!" Shippo said, bouncing up on Sango's shoulder.

"Did the jewel shards help her?" the exterminator asked.

Miroku walked towards Sango and said, "Somehow Kagome managed to control herself long enough to realize that she needed to change her opponent."

Kagome released the jewel shards and jumped up, readying her claws for an attack. She managed to barely dodge the tentacles that shot out at her.

"Foolish miko!" Naraku shouted, glaring at Kagome.

"You're the fool. Thinking you can control me! Ha!" Kagome shouted, flying back and glaring at Naraku. "I take orders from no one! Especially a filthy hanyou like you!"

Naraku glared at Kagome and sent his tentacles at her, forcing her to pull elegant maneuvers in the sky.

He sent thousands of tentacles at her, making her dive to the ground. She spread her wings a foot to the ground and sped across it, making her look like a black and green bullet.

Kagome spread out her claws and flew towards Naraku, completely ignoring all the other people watching.

Her claws slashed through the many different body parts and mass of tentacles that was surrounding her, feeling no remorse while doing so. Why would she feel remorse, though, if that someone had been controlling her?

The power of the Shikon Jewel had made her fight without boundaries, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't turn on the others.

- - -

Kagome's mother sat at the table, her eyes misted over as she sipped her tea. Like she often did during her break, Jii-chan was working in the shrine, and Souta was at school, Ms. Higurashi thought about her daughter and what may be happening in that world that she had grown so attached to.

She took another sip, the slurping sound breaking the silence in the room.

Ms. Higurashi often wondered what kinds of demons that her daughter had to fight. She had no idea what happened in that world, but she willingly let Kagome go there whenever she liked.

She understood that the world that Kagome had discovered may have become a second home.

Ms. Higurashi finished the last of her tea and took care of her cup, making sure to wash it out. Then she left the house, feeling the cool breeze whip around her body.

Her gaze landed on the well house that she had looked at so often, even more lately. "Kagome... Please be safe."

- - -

Kagome stood in front of Naraku, her new, leathery wings spread out in anger.

"DIE!" She shouted before running at him once more.

_Chapter End_


	21. A Change of Heart

New chapter. Yays. Anyway. Here we go. And I'll try to update as quickly as possible. Maybe I'll update on Sundays?

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twenty-One: A Change of Heart**

_I couldn't remember what happened once I woke up, but what I saw was as shocking as finding out that the Jewel transformed me into a youkai. And for once... I was..._

- - -

Kagome sliced through Naraku's body, sending herself through it as well and flying out of the other side along with blood and carnage. The pieces of flesh bubbled together a bit and then inched itself back to where Naraku was standing in a mass of organs, looking like the monstrocity that he was.

"I'll kill you!" Kagome shouted, her voice sounding less like a monster's and a bit more human.

"Stupid wench," Naraku said, trying to hit her with his green tenticles. Kagome avoided each of them, and glared back at her allies, all of them standing there in awe.

"If you're going to fight, do it!" Kagome shouted at them, sending her hand in Naraku's stomach.

InuYasha snapped out of his stupor and sent a Kaze no Kizu towards Naraku, knowing that Kagome would easilly avoid it.

Sango covered her Hiraikotsu in Miroku's sutras and threw her weapon at Naraku, the weight of the Hiraikotsu making her scream to send it flying.

Miroku started to pull the extra bits of flesh into his wind tunnel and avoiding the samiyoshou that would fly at him.

Kagome jumped up in the air and started collecting youki in her right palm before throwing the ball of energy towards Naraku, effectively piercing him through the stomach. Naraku glared and sent his tenticles at Kagome once more, but she just smirked and dodged them.

Kagome's youki attack went straight through Naraku and towards InuYasha, who readied his sword.

He brought his sword down, shouting out, "BAKURYUUHA!"

The youki of InuYasha and Kagome combined and went flying back towards Naraku, who got the full force of the blast.

Sango, Miroku and Shippo shielded themselves from the debris flying around, and Kagome watched from above, nearly reaching the ceiling of the mountain cave.

Once the dust settled, the group gasped simultaniously.

Where Naraku had been, he was there no more, but in the giant hole that he had resided in was a small black jewel.

InuYasha's eyes widened.

"The Shikon Jewel," InuYasha said, taking a few steps forward.

He was right. The nearly complete Jewel sat in the center of the small dip where Naraku had stood.

Kagome landed next to the jewel, not looking surprised in the least.

"Damn coward. Runs away right when I was gonna get my revenge," Kagome said, turning and clenching her fist.

"Kagome?" Shippo asked, still afraid to be around her.

Red eyes landed on the kitsune and he took a few steps back.

Kagome's gaze washed over each of them, making them either flinch or step back. Except for InuYasha.

"Hanyou," Kagome started, walking towards InuYasha, one of the fangs she now had sticking over her lower lip. "Are you not afraid of me?"

"I could say the same to you," InuYasha said, folding his arms.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Why should I be afraid?" she asked, sounding a bit childlike and smirking a bit.

"Because, I'm the one who can make you normal; I can change you back into a human," InuYasha said, looking at Kagome like she was dumb.

Smirking some more, Kagome said to him, "You're quite a piece of work... I suppose I won't kill you... yet." Kagome turned around and walked towards an exit before staggering and having to catch her balance.

"Kagome!" InuYasha said, running over to the girl.

Before the hanyou could reach her, she fell over, the side effects of being a youkai vanishing.

Once there, InuYasha kneeled down next to Kagome. She was still concious.

"InuYasha... You came," said the miko before passing out.

InuYasha smirked and, even though he knew that she couldn't hear him, said to her, "'Course I did. If I didn't, I'd be breaking my promise, wouldn't I?"

InuYasha moved Kagome onto his lap so she could recouperate better.

The monk walked over to the Shikon Jewel, which was only a foot away from Kagome, and knelt down to touch it.

Miroku put his hand out and stopped right before touching it.

"Houshi-sama? What's wrong?" Sango asked, coming up behind Miroku.

He frowned and said, "I can't touch the Jewel. It's too impure."

"I suppose we have to wait until Kagome-chan wakes up," Sango said, kneeling next to Miroku.

Miroku looked at Sango, sadness reflected in his eyes.

After looking at the jewel for a moment, Sango felt a pair of eyes watching her and turned to meet them. "Houshi-sama?"

Without waiting for a question, Miroku answered, "I couldn't protect you. When Kagome was being controlled, I couldn't protect you." Miroku looked at Sango sadly.

Sango frowned and said, "You were too far away. You wouldn't have been able to reach me anyway."

Miroku looked at Sango for a moment when a third voice inturrupted the silence, "Sango's right, monk. Besides, I saw you waving that cursed hand around and sucking in attacks so they would come towards you instead." InuYasha was being smart for once, but he didn't realize how much good he had done.

"You really did that, Houshi-sama?" Sango asked, eyes wide.

Miroku was about to protest when InuYasha chimed in with another comment. "Those attacks could have killed you, Sango. If he didn't do that, you would probably be the one laying on the ground instead of Kagome."

Sango smiled and leaned against Miroku slightly and saying to him, "Thank you, Houshi-sama."

Shippo popped up next to InuYasha. The hanyou asked in a whisper, "What's she doing?"

Shippo answered, "Idiot."

"What?"

"You're an idiot, InuYasha," Shippo said, folding his arms and turning his back on the hanyou.

Shippo's insults were met with a fist to the head.

Though beating on the kitsune made him feel better, InuYasha was still concerned over Kagome. What was going to happen to her now?

And once Naraku was defeated, would the Bachiatari Jewel come out of her back? Or would they be forced to find a different way?

InuYasha tried to push the thoughts of dread out of his mind.

They had someone to get rid of before they could take care of the cursed jewel that was always in his thoughts. No doubt it was in Kagome's.

_If I was in her position, I don't know if I could be cheery at all. But she manages to stay kind and somewhat happy. Kagome transforms when she feels 'bad' emotions, so why isn't she always transforming? _InuYasha asked himself, looking at the girl in his lap. The large nekomata laid down behind InuYasha and allowed him to lay against her, so he did.

"Thanks, Kirara," InuYasha said, leaning his head back.

The cave they were in startd to dim, and the top of the mountain had a hole in it where they could see that it was dusk.

And as soon as night fell, they were all sound asleep; the black glow of the Shikon Jewel was the only light in the mountain that they slept inside.

_Chapter End_


	22. Purity

Well, this fic is far from over, don't worry. But, it seems that a lot of my fics seem to have their climax really early... Or two climaxes... o.O;; That's odd. Well, time for the chapter.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Purity**

_... For once... I was... I was happy._

- - -

Kagome was extremely comfortable in her spot. She felt like lying there forever. But she knew that she couldn't, and she had to get up... later. She could wake up later.

After about a half hour of lying in her cozy spot, she willed her eyes to open. She did so, slowly, and found herself looking at a tainted jewel in the middle of a mountain.

The miko pushed herself off of her spot and looked where her head was laying. She was staring at a red leg, which led up to a red chest, which led up to a sleeping face laying against Kirara.

InuYasha looked peaceful, but the lack of weight and warmth on his leg caused him to stir. His eyes opened and met Kagome's, blinking a couple times before glancing at the Shikon Jewel in the middle of the floor.

"What happened? After I transformed, I mean," Kagome said, remembering the struggle she had, and losing herself to the youkai that had found home in her body.

InuYasha sat up carefully, causing Kirara to wake up as well, but she didn't move from her spot as InuYasha's backrest. The nekomata actually seemed to enjoy it.

The hanyou crossed his legs and massaged the one that was asleep from Kagome's weight, and cleared his throat. "When I got here," InuYasha started, "you had already transformed. You tried attacking us, but I stopped you," InuYasha seemed a bit proud of himself there, "and then you escaped my grasp. For some reason, you grasped the jewel shards that you have, and you broke from Naraku's control and started to attack him, but still as a youkai. The rest of us joined in and started to attack Naraku as well, and soon, he was gone.

"He left the Shikon Jewel though, and I don't think he meant to... and then... You acted... almost human... I mean, you're acting human now, but you said that you wouldn't kill us. Like the youkai side of you was starting to accept us," InuYasha said, looking at Kagome carefully. "Or maybe you're starting to regain control."

Kagome smiled at InuYasha. "So, Naraku's almost dead."

"Yeah. But we can't touch the jewel. You're going to have to make it pure," Miroku said, sitting up from his spot where he was sitting. Kagome and InuYasha hadn't noticed the others had woken up and were listening in.

"Maybe... if I protect the jewel long enough, it will become so pure that Naraku can't touch it," Kagome said. _Like Kikyou asked me to do with Kohaku's shard..._ Kagome added to herself, remembering the dead priestess.

"Then we can defeat Naraku!" Shippo shouted, bouncing around.

Kagome stood up and brushed off her tattered skirt and then stepped over to the Jewel that sat in the center of the dark glow. She kneeled down and the second that she touched the tainted marble it seemed to purify, but Kagome could tell that it wasn't completely void of all evil.

She held onto the jewel tightly and took out the few shards that she had. Putting them together with the Jewel she started to pray, which caused the shards and the rest of the Jewel to connect together.

"So, it's pure now?" Sango asked.

Kagome shook her head and tied the Jewel around her neck using the string from the jar that held the shards.

"Not yet. It may take a while, but it's almost pure now," Kagome told them.

InuYasha looked at the Jewel tied around her neck and said, "That's better than nothing."

"I can't believe it. We've almost got the whole Shikon Jewel," Kagome whispered to herself.

And so, they left, flying to the top of the mountain and exiting through the hole that let the light in.

- - -

The group stopped at a village that gladly let them stay at the inn there after Miroku used his 'services' to get rid of a 'youkai.' They got one of the largest rooms there, filled with beautiful wall paintings and warm colors. The beds were softer than most of the ones that they slept on, and the blankets were much warmer.

It seemed that their luck was starting to change.

Kagome sat outside on the deck that night, watching the sky and enjoying a fresh pair of clothes that they had also got from the village.

InuYasha walked outside and saw Kagome in the garbs and was reminded of Kikyou, seeing as the clothing was from the village miko. Though, that miko _was_ suspicious of the monk traveling with them.

The hanyou did think about how similar that Kagome and Kikyou looked, but he also thought about how different they were. Kagome was nothing like Kikyou, and he was glad for that.

He walked over to her and sat down next to her, wondering if his question was dumb or not.

"Hey, InuYasha," Kagome said to the hanyou.

"I was thinking..." InuYasha started, not even replying to her greeting.

Ignoring the temptation to make a witty remark, the miko replied, "About what?"

"Well... What if you used the Shikon Jewel to wish that the Bachiatari Jewel was gone?" InuYasha asked.

Kagome's expression saddened and she sighed. "I wish it were that simple, InuYasha. But I don't think that would work. That would be a selfish wish, and the Shikon Jewel wouldn't be purified," Kagome said. _Besides, _Kagome thought, _the only ways to get rid of the Bachiatari Jewel is killing Naraku or love... I doubt that the Shikon Jewel could even break the spell._

InuYasha looked up into the sky where the miko was looking. "What's so interesting about the sky?" he asked.

"I'm sure you've noticed how in my time you can't see any of the stars. I think it's just so amazing to see them all here. They're so beautiful," Kagome explained. "And they calm me."

InuYasha shifted his gaze to Kagome and raised an eyebrow. "They calm you?"

Kagome nodded and said to the hanyou. "Yeah. The stars calm me, just like how you make me feel safe and protected."

InuYasha blushed. "I... I do?"

"Yup," Kagome giggled, glancing at InuYasha before turning back to the sky.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Kagome yawned deeply.

"You should probably go to bed," InuYasha said.

"We're going to go search for Naraku tomorrow, right?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha nodded and grunted in agreement.

Kagome's voice quieted and she added, "We'll also have to find Kohaku."

Before the miko got up to leave, she asked InuYasha, "Do you think that after we defeat Naraku, the Bachiatari Jewel will lose it's power?"

The hanyou paused. He was about to answer when Kagome yawned once more and said, "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late. Goodnight, InuYasha."

He stayed out for a while and then went inside, asking himself, _Will the Jewel go away once Naraku is dead?_

_Chapter End_


	23. The Hunt

Yo. What's up? Anyway, I'm tired. Really tired. And I want to sleep. And I want food because I'm hungry. I wish Mom would make dinner. Anyway, I've been drawing a bit lately. I have a long way to go, but I'd say that I'm pretty good. Yeah...

To the chapter.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: The Hunt**

_I was afraid. The thought of fighting Naraku frightened me so badly. Who knew if all of us would survive, let alone any of us?_

_And then there was Kohaku. Where was he, and would he even survive?_

_So many questions that were left unanswered._

_Though, I don't know if I wanted them answered._

- - -

InuYasha lead the group towards the forest and out of the village. They were all ready to go, but they had no idea where Naraku was. He was too far away for InuYasha to smell anything.

Kagome looked off into the distance, holding onto the Shikon Jewel tightly in her palm. Often weaker demons would pop out of the forest and Miroku would get rid of them with a sutra, or InuYasha would cut them with his claws.

Besides all of the demons attacking, it was a pretty normal trip.

Sango walked next to Kagome and Miroku and looked over to the miko.

Kagome was holding onto the jewel once more, like she was afraid that someone was going to steal it. Though, her thought was perfectly valid.

Looking at the Shikon Jewel made Sango think about her brother, Kohaku. Sango's eyes lowered towards the ground and she quietly sighed.

Hardly anyone noticed Sango's odd breathing patterns, though Miroku did. Sensing something was up, Kagome walked faster to catch up with InuYasha and Shippo in the front.

"Sango?" Miroku asked once Kagome was out of earshot.

Sango looked away and muttered, "It's nothing."

"What's bothering you?" asked the monk.

"I already said it's nothing, Houshi-sama," insisted Sango.

Miroku looked slyly at Sango and raised his eyebrows. "I know you better than that, Sango. What's going on?" Miroku asked.

Sango sighed and looked at the ground.

"I was just thinking about... Kohaku," Sango said, hugging her chest.

"Oh."

Miroku looked ahead of them, trying to think of something to say.

Before Miroku could say anything to Sango, she spoke, "Is he alright? If we find him, what will happen? We need to take the jewel out of his back, but if we do that, his life will be taken away." Tears welled up at the corner of Sango's eyes and they threatened to fall, but she blinked them away.

"I can't tell you the future, and if I could, I wouldn't want to. Though it's a horrible situation either way, we will figure that out when we get there," Miroku said, putting an arm on Sango's shoulder.

Sango hesitated, waiting for Miroku's arm to move down even a bit, but it seemed that he was being serious. After a few moments, Sango relaxed and leaned against him, which was a bit uncomfortable while they were walking.

"I've got it," InuYasha suddenly blurted out, interrupting Miroku and Sango's moment.

"Got what, InuYasha?" Shippo practically shouted, bouncing up on InuYasha's shoulder.

InuYasha turned his head to the left and said, "Naraku's scent. He can't hide it because he lost the power of the Shikon Jewel."

Kagome, glaring into the distance, said, "We should go."

Miroku, Sango, Kirara and Shippo, widened their eyes at Kagome's tone of voice. They all backed up quite a bit, fearing that Kagome's anger might be taken out on them.

InuYasha nodded and lead them towards Naraku's scent.

Now that the hanyou was weakened, they stood a chance, but he was still powerful.

Kagome gripped the Shikon Jewel even more tightly, relaxing the pain in her back. She could feel the youki from the jewel start to take over.

_Don't get angry, Kagome_, the miko told herself, trying to relax more.

- - -

The silence was deafening.

No one had talked for TWO HOURS. Shippo hadn't insulted InuYasha, InuYasha hadn't pounded Miroku, Miroku hadn't groped Sango, Sango hadn't gossiped with Kagome, and Kagome hadn't sat InuYasha.

No one spoke.

The forest was just as quiet. The farther they went from the path, the quieter it got. The only thing heard was the grass being crushed beneath their feet and a subtle breeze making the trees sing.

Everyone could feel the youki that got more powerful the farther they went, and InuYasha could smell Naraku.

That's what it all came down to. Naraku was here, not to far away.

Maybe he wasn't in a cave this time, though. That's what Kagome thought, at least, as she stepped on a twig, making the most noise that anyone had since they stepped off the path.

Kagome was getting sick of all these caves that Naraku used.

InuYasha pushed aside thick branches that went back and hit Miroku in the face.

"Thank you for holding those for me," Miroku said, breaking the silence and wiping a few leaves off of his face.

Kagome and Sango went past the branches as Miroku held back the tree from hitting anyone else.

"Naraku's scent is strongest here," InuYasha said.

"And he doesn't even notice me," Miroku muttered, glaring at the back of InuYasha's head.

Feeling someone look at him, InuYasha turned around and glared back. "Do you have a problem?" demanded the hanyou.

Miroku slapped his own forehead, making a red mark appear immediately.

Ignoring the bickering, Sango asked, "Where is he?"

They were in a clearing hardly big enough to call a small clearing. There was something strange though, and the bushes and trees across from where they entered looked a bit artificial.

Kagome walked over to the fake looking trees and held out a hand. They came in contact with thin air, which soon materialized into a huge cliff, and they were at the bottom of it.

In the middle of the wall, there was a hole.

"I suppose Naraku is having a tough time using any of his powers without the Jewel. Anyone could have found that pretty easily," Sango said.

Everyone turned to Kagome, who was standing at the cave entrance.

"Kagome?" InuYasha asked, walking towards the miko.

No one spoke for a moment and then Kagome turned her head towards them a bit.

"It's..."

The entire party leaned forward.

"IT'S A CAVE!"

The others almost fell over from her answer while Kagome continued to rant about how Naraku had absolutely no originality, whatsoever.

_End Chapter_


	24. Fight to the Finish

Hey guys. Sorry that I didn't update for the last two weeks! I was really busy. Actually, I'm still really busy. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Something like that. But I apologize! I'm very sorry! Please forgive me! Anywho, here's your chapter.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Fight to the Finish**

_It was a cave. Did this guy have no originality, whatsoever? Wait, I said that... But whatever! Okay, I can't expect much from Naraku, but he could have done something different, for once. But no, he had a damn cave. The stupid cave that was full of stupidness. GAH!_

- - -

The group started to go in the cave, holding onto the wall to find their way as the darkness swallowed them whole. If it was day they might have been able to see, but all they had to lead them was InuYasha's voice as he led them. Shippo, Kirara and InuYasha all could see fine, like it was day out, but the humans were having trouble even telling where InuYasha was.

Soon a dim light could be seen ahead of them. For a while they thought it was something at the end of the cave, but once they arrived there, they realized they had just passed through a tunnel and had ended up in a valley in the mountains.

The moonlight shone off the water in the middle of the valley, making the area seem almost like it was bathed in sunlight. To their right was a small village, cut off from the rest of the world. Kagome watched as a small group of people walked out to the edge of the village and knelt down.

The miko saw a shimmering light and realized that those people were high in spiritual energy and had just put up a barrier around their village.

"They must sense the battle that is soon to come," Miroku said in all seriousness.

"Well, let's not make them wait!" InuYasha said, walking towards the lake in the middle of the valley.

The rest followed, and stood at the edge of the water. No one moved, no one spoke, not even the wind blowed.

The lake started to bubble and bulge, sending the shore line up a foot. A huge grotesque body rose from the water, sending the shore line even farther.

Shippo moved back, not wanting to get wet, but everyone else stayed, the water rising to their knees.

"This is it," Sango said, glaring at the huge body beating and pulsing.

"Do or die," Kagome said, surprising the other three.

"You're acting morbid," Miroku commented.

"No, I'm just trying to be realistic."

"Don't. It's not like you," InuYasha said, taking out his Tetsusaiga.

"Fine. Whatever. Let's just finish this," Kagome said, taking out her bow and nocking an arrow.

Naraku's head popped out of the mass of pulsing flesh and laughed loud and hard. Tenticles and diamond shards flew towards everyone, forcing them to dodge thousands of attacks. InuYasha became angry and used his sword to deflect most of the attacks.

Kagome pulled back the arrow and released it, aiming at where she thought Naraku's heart may be.

It went through his body, but his insides instantly filled in the hole that was made by Kagome's arrow. The young miko gasped when she sensed a familiar presence.

"The Shikon Jewel is in Naraku's neck!"

Naraku laughed once more and said to Kagome, "You're becoming a nusance once more. I'll have to do something about that."

Kagome gripped her head as sudden pain poured into her body. She knew what was going on, but she couldn't do a thing.

"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted, running towards the young miko. Sango and Miroku, knowing that they couldn't help, continued to fight, but glanced back at Kagome once in a while.

"InuYasha! Stay back!" Kagome said to him as he neared.

The hanyou shook his head and said, "No. I won't. You're in trouble."

"The Shikon Jewel isn't what he used to control me. I don't know what it is, but he still has it! You're in danger! I think he wants to get to you from me!" Kagome warned.

InuYasha sat there and tried to stop Kagome from transforming, but it was no use.

"InuYasha..." she moaned, gripping her head tightly.

"Kagome?" asked the hanyou, moving closer to her.

Her hand reached out and grabbed the handle of Tetsusaiga, yanking it out of InuYasha's hand. The sword tried to reject Kagome, but before it could harm her, she threw it far behind her.

InuYasha gasped and looked up to see Kagome, standing tall and looking down at him with wings spread out and claws curled and ready to strike.

"Now it's time for you to die, hanyou," Kagome said, jumping at him with trimendous speed.

She slashed out with her claws and barely missed him, nicking his shirt a little.

"Kagome?" InuYasha asked.

"Don't talk to me like you know me," she said, running at him again.

_I have to get the Tetsusaiga! If Kagome hurts me, I could transform! _InuYasha thought, running towards his rusty old sword sticking up from the ground. Kagome jumped and blocked him from his path, forcing him to stop and look for another path.

Miroku and Sango couldn't help but notice the other battle going on behind them. While distracted, Sango didn't notice the diamond spear heading towards her from the left.

"Sango!" Miroku shouted, causing the exterminator to turn in time to see Miroku jump in front of her with his wind tunnel open.

The diamond spear was sucked into Miroku's Kazaana, and he winced in pain.

"Houshi-sama!" Sango said as the monk fell to the ground.

"The attack nicked the sides of my hand. I think it's widened..." Miroku said painfully, holding his hand in a fist like it was going to suck him in if he opened his palm.

"Houshi-sama, I'll fight for now. You rest for a bit," Sango said, standing up and blocking any attack that came their way.

A ways away, InuYasha jumped above Kagome, trying to get to his sword. Kagome jumped as well and threw her clawed hand into InuYasha's stomach, throwing him back and knocking him to the ground.

Kagome landed and stood triumphantly above him, smirking down at the unmoving body. She turned away and started to walk away, but stopped at a change of scents in the air.

Naraku laughed. "Your hanyou friend has lost to the youkai blood inside of him," Naraku said to Sango and Miroku, who were trying to protect themselves with the little energy that they had left.

Kagome turned around and saw InuYasha stand up, looking at her with blood red eyes. Two jagged, purple stripes went down his cheeks and his fangs and claws were longer.

The miko's eyes widened as she saw InuYasha.

"You... have changed?" she asked, looking at InuYasha quizzically.

He held out his claws and started to run towards Kagome, intending on taking her head. Kagome jumped back just in time and started to dodge every attack he sent at her.

"You've become better, hanyou. You no longer hesitate while fighting me," said the miko with a smirk.

"I'll kill you!" InuYasha shouted, lashing out at Kagome again.

It was a battle between demons. They glared at each other with red eyes and battled with claws alone. The only main difference between them was that Kagome could fly.

Kagome smirked and said, "I think this has gone on long enough."

Kagome lunged at InuYasha and punched him in the gut, followed by a hard punch in the jaw.

- - -

Meanwhile, Sango and Miroku fought a battle themselves. While Miroku tried to refrain from using his Kazaana by resting and using sutras, Sango was stuck to fight Naraku almost by herself.

Sango sent her Hiraikotsu flying towards Naraku, doing almost nothing except get rid of a few limbs that would just quickly regrow.

Sango got her weapon back and tried to send it flying again, but it was nocked out of her hand by a tenticle. The exterminator turned to try and retrieve it, but was struck in the stomach by another tenticle.

"Sango!" Miroku shouted, getting up and running over to his fallen comerade. He picked her up and put her on his lap while putting up a barrier at the same time.

Sango looked at Miroku warily and said to him, "Houshi-sama... what are we going to do?"

Miroku didn't answer.

_End Chapter_


	25. Dust

Good news: I got a new keyboard! Bad news (for you at least): I've decided to try the National Novel Writing Month competition! I want to finish a novel in a month, but I have to come up with an idea. I have to do 50,000 words (I don't think that will be too hard), but that will seriously cut into my time for writing this. Sorry!

I also apologize for being a week and two days late on my last deadline! And for having a short chapter! Eh...

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Dust**

_And so the battle continued on... All of us confused and exhausted, at least the ones who had control of their minds..._

- - -

Youkai InuYasha flew back about fifteen feet from Kagome's attack. He slid across the ground while dirt and dust filled the air where he had made a dent in the earth. InuYasha stood up and got ready to attack Kagome, but he stopped.

The possessed hanyou turned to see the Tetsusaiga next to him, pulsing and calling it's owner. InuYasha hesitated.

"What's the matter, hanyou?" Kagome asked, walking towards InuYasha. Her claws were held out and ready to strike.

InuYasha looked at the sword and moved his hand towards it, but at the same time watching Kagome closely.

Just as Kagome started to run to attack, InuYasha's hand grasped the sword.

His change was instantaneous, and he dodged Kagome's attack just in time. Kagome glared at the hanyou and said, "So, you've regained control. That's unfortunate."

InuYasha ran towards Kagome, his sword being pushed back in it's sheath. He dodged all her attacks and as he closed in on her, he jumped up and got ready for his attack.

He landed on her, holding her tightly beneath her. Even though she was transformed, she was still a girl, and the awkward position made her face turn red. She tried to push him off, shouting, "What the hell are you doing?!" It was no use. Soon enough, her eyes returned to normal and she transformed back.

InuYasha held Kagome in her arms, her limp and unconscious body cradled tightly against him as Naraku decided that it was his turn to fight. InuYasha dodged the attacks thrown at him and ran over to Miroku.

Miroku barely lifted a part of the barrier before InuYasha set Kagome inside. "Watch her! Make sure she stays safe! I'm going to fight Naraku." InuYasha left and the barrier was complete once more as the hanyou ripped out his sword and charged ahead, dodging all attacks thrown at him.

_Today you die, Naraku!_ InuYasha thought, sending a Kaze no Kizu flying at Naraku's head.

As InuYasha fought alone, he thought to himself with each blow, _For Kikyou! For Miroku! For Sango!_ InuYasha had destroyed parts of Naraku's body.

_For your stupid henchmen that helped us and you betrayed! _InuYasha thought as he sliced through the surging mass of flesh. He dodged another attack.

InuYasha leapt up once more and shoved his sword right where Naraku's heart was. _For Kagome..._

Naraku screamed in pain and sent a tentacle through InuYasha's body right when he was falling through the air.

InuYasha gasped in pain and landed on the ground, holding his stomach tightly as the tentacle retreated and Naraku turned into dust, never to live again.

"InuYasha!" Miroku shouted as he let the barrier up. The village nearby also got rid of their barrier and rushed out to help all of the fighters. Shippo helped as well, transforming into an animal to help carry everybody.

- - -

InuYasha tried to push the young human girl away from him as she took care of his wounds. "I'm fine!" he insisted, but she glared at him. He could tell in her eyes that she was frightened to death of him, but she wouldn't give up.

"Keh," said the hanyou, as he let the girl resume her work.

She finished tying up the fabric around his torso and asked, "Would you like some food?"

Smirking a bit, InuYasha answered, "Yeah!" He didn't look very happy, but he was more enthusiastic than he had ever been talking about battles. He must have been starved.

He was the only one awake in the hut after the girl left. Sango and Miroku were asleep, but were separated from him and each other by a paper wall. Miroku had tried to get the old hag that had set up the hut for them to take the wall separating him and Sango down, but she wouldn't. She knew his type.

Kagome was on the other side of him, sleeping soundly. She wasn't close to him, but the old woman had realized that it would be best to put a door between Miroku and Sango, and one wasn't needed for InuYasha.

InuYasha took his gaze off of Kagome as the young girl came back in with a bowl of some sort of soup. It smelled good, at least.

The hanyou dug in quickly, hardly even tasting what he ate.

He felt a pair of eyes on him and looked up, seeing the young girl watching him. She giggled as soon as InuYasha saw her, and put a hand to her face.

"What?" InuYasha asked harshly, ignoring the bit of food on his cheek.

"You eat about as excitedly as you fight," she said, grinning widely.

InuYasha raised an eyebrow, but continued eating. Once he was finished, he set the bowl down and glanced over to Kagome, to see if anything had changed in the short time he had eaten. Obviously not, because she looked exactly the same.

"You love her, don't you?" the stranger asked, her tone making it sound like she was confirming it, rather than asking if he did.

The question took InuYasha by surprise so much that he almost didn't realize what she had said, but he answered with a high-pitched, "Huh?"

The girl could tell that he didn't know what she was talking about. "Never mind. It's nothing. I'm going to take care of these dishes. If you need anything, just call for me.

InuYasha watched the girl leave and then turned his gaze back to Kagome. Then, her brow furrowed.

_Is she having a bad dream? _InuYasha asked himself.

- - -

_...The villagers all started to run away from where Kagome was standing, her bloodied claws held out for all to see..._

_...Kagome watched the exterminator as she spun the giant boomerang above her head, getting ready to attack Kagome. Sango swung hard towards Kagome's head, but Kagome ducked, smirking the whole time. Sango swung towards Kagome's feet, and Kagome jumped, and landed on the Hiriakotsu._

_Kagome laughed once at seeing Sango's bewildered expression. One of Sango's hidden weapons ripped through her clothing as she tried to hit Kagome with that, getting angry. Kagome looked surprised for a second, but brought her hand up to grab the weapon before it hit her._

_Sango gasped when Kagome grabbed a hold of the blade; blood started to drip down from Kagome's hand, but Kagome didn't notice it._

"_Annoying wench," Kagome said, smirking, before punching Sango in the cheek and sending her flying back towards Miroku..._

_..."You're not a... youkai. You're a human," said a different voice. Kagome turned her said to see InuYasha standing up, blood trickling from his mouth. His wound had started to heal a little bit, but not much._

"_What are you talking about, hanyou?" Kagome said, saying hanyou like it was a sin to be one._

_"I-Inu... Yasha! I... I can't... control myself!"..._

_..."Inu... Yasha..."_

- - -

Kagome bolted up as she awoke from her sleep. She was breathing deeply and was trying to figure out what had just happened. _Was that a dream? _she asked herself.

Her eyes widened in revelation as she thought, _No... it wasn't a dream... it was..._

"Kagome? Are you alright?" InuYasha asked the startled girl.

Kagome stared into the distance and said to him, "I remember... I remember the first time I transformed."

_End Chapter_


	26. Suppressed Memories

I truly apologize for taking this story to hiatus for so long. School took up a lot of my time this past year, but I'll try to get to work on this during the summer, even if I have to sacrifice some swimming days to do this. ;;

I have the urge to revise some of my previous stories, but revise them into whole different stories, and just making new ones. So, I think I'm going to do that soon. After this story is done, I think I'll start with the main idea for _What the Hell is Going On! _and make it darker and such. After I'm done with that, I think I'll move on to _A Strand of Golden Hair_. Mainly because I have no idea what to do for another story. I'm sort of blank.

* * *

**Save Me From Myself**

**Chapter Twenty-six: Suppressed Memories**

_If you've ever forgotten something for a long time, and then remember it, that feeling is about the same as I felt. Except for with my memories, they were the worst things imaginable. But, that was only the first time I transformed. I couldn't even begin to fathom what the other times I transformed were like. So I didn't even try. I just tried to push the memory back and hoped that it was just a fluke, that I remembered it on accident..._

- - -

"I... remember the first time I transformed," Kagome repeated, not taking her eyes from the wall in front of her.

InuYasha hardly seemed able to register what she just told him. He made his way over to Kagome and asked softly, "Can you remember the other times you transformed?"

Kagome shook her head.

"Just the one."

This could be problematic. InuYasha looked at Kagome carefully, trying to see if she was pulling any sort of joke on him, even though he knew that Kagome wouldn't joke about this. Hell, she hardly joked at all... or at least anymore.

InuYasha scooted closer to the girl who held her knees to her chest. Kagome was close to tears, and she didn't look at anything but the wall. It was a miracle that she hadn't transformed.

But that's why it was a problem... If she remembered any more times that she transformed, then she would definitely transform. There was no doubt in InuYasha's mind about that.

Hesitantly, and while swallowing the nervousness that he could feel rising within him, he took his hand and set it on Kagome's back, pulling her close to him. She needed his support, and if he couldn't do that, he wasn't much of a... friend. AGH! He shouldn't be thinking about things like that! Kagome's in trouble, and she needs him.

Feeling a hand rest on her back, Kagome stiffened for just a moment before relaxing and resting herself against InuYasha. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, but for some strange reason, she didn't feel as afraid now. _It's because of InuYasha, isn't it?_ she asked herself, already knowing the answer.

InuYasha could smell the tears as Kagome silently cried. It was like she was sharing her pain with him, because he felt his heart pang at seeing her like this. Somehow, the physical contact that they shared had created a link between them, InuYasha had thought. That had to explain it. And he hated to see her cry, so the physical contact was just making it worse... right?

Mustering all the courage he could, he spoke. "Don't... Don't cry, Kagome," he said to her, the sincerity in his voice filling the room. "I'm here for you... We'll get through this."

Kagome's silent tears continued to roll down her face, and she held onto the red fabric of his haori like it was a lifeline, which it could have very well been. She nodded without saying anything and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his body next to hers.

Kagome was surprised she hadn't transformed already. She had been crying forever, but felt... good? She hardly understood why.

Outside a flash of lightning lit up the sky and flashed through the door. Neither of them had realized that it was raining until the sudden light and booms of thunder.

"The rain," Kagome said in a whisper, "must be cleaning the earth of the evil that had plagued this land for so long... Tomorrow I'm going to go to the lake... okay?"

InuYasha rose an eyebrow, his blush slightly fading from feeling Kagome up against him. "Why do you want to go there?" he asked.

"The lake probably should be purified. It's filled with Naraku's ashes," Kagome said, making idle conversation.

Both of them knew that Kagome was too afraid to go back asleep. She didn't want to see another vision, and InuYasha didn't want to leave her alone. She needed someone, and he was the only one there to offer support.

"InuYasha..." Kagome said, catching the hanyou's attention. "I just wanted to thank you, for pulling me out of the transformation the first time. I didn't realize how you did that. It must have taken a lot of courage for you to go and hug me in front of all of those people." Kagome commented.

InuYasha blushed, turning his gaze from Kagome. "Yeah... well... You woulda done the same thing for me. And it's not like it was that big of a deal. And I knew that I was the only one who could do anything," InuYasha said quietly.

Kagome looked up without moving her head, trying to catch a glimpse of his face. "So, if Sango was in that sort of trouble and you were the only one who could save her, you would have hugged her?" Kagome said in mock anger.

"Now wait a minute!" InuYasha said, raising his voice only slightly so he wouldn't wake the others. "I never said that. I mean... well, if push came to shove, I guess I would _have_ to, but I wouldn't do it because I wanted to!"

"So you _wanted_ to hug me?" Kagome asked, smiling slightly.

InuYasha blushed as red as his haori and quickly became flustered. "Well... I... It... It's not like... It was the only... I just knew I had to!" InuYasha finally said after a long pause.

Kagome laughed, clear and crisp, adding to the music that the rain made. "I'm joking with you, InuYasha. You're so funny." Kagome scooted closer to InuYasha.

Their conversation ceased and a comfortable silence settled between them. They were both content, but at the same time, afraid. Kagome was afraid that if she fell asleep again, she would see another memory of when she was a demon, and InuYasha was afraid for what was to come.

- - -

Though the rest of the night was sleepless for the both of them, Kagome and InuYasha were strangely rested. Kagome was being extra careful not to get over emotional, and didn't tell anyone else about the dream that she had.

The day went by painfully slow. Sango remained unconscious, and Miroku had sucked in more poison that he had thought. Though his Kazanna was now gone ("Naraku must really be dead!" InuYasha had said triumphantly), Miroku was still fighting the shouki that was left over from the fight. Miroku was conscious at least.

Kagome sat against a tree on a hill overlooking the village below. InuYasha walked towards her, but she didn't even notice him; she was too lost in her thoughts.

"Kagome," InuYasha said, startling Kagome.

She looked up at him and smiled softly. "Oh. InuYasha," she said, leaning back against the tree once more.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

Kagome shrugged. "The memories have begun to return, but right now I am alright. I can't begin to imagine how you all must have felt when I became a... _monster._ I hate myself even more, now."

InuYasha sat down next to Kagome, staying silent for a short while.

"I know what you mean," he whispered, breaking the silence.

Kagome turned to look at him, eyes wide in surprise. It wasn't often that InuYasha shared his feelings with her.

"When I transformed, I was so afraid that I was going to hurt all of you. I couldn't stand it," he said, glaring into the distance.

Kagome replied softly, "You're still dealing with it, aren't you?"

InuYasha nodded.

A huge yawn startled some birds in the tree that the two of them were leaning against, but all they did was twitter and flap their wings.

"I'm tired," Kagome muttered, blinking a couple times.

The hanyou next to her stood up and said, "Come on, let's go get some food. Then you can get some sleep."

"What if I have another dream?"

InuYasha sighed. "I guess we'll just have to let you dream. You have to sleep some time..."

Kagome looked around and noticed the lake. "Before we do that, I need to check the lake. Do you want to come with me?" Kagome asked, smiling a little bit.

InuYasha looked toward the lake and nodded. "Sure."

- - -

Kagome knelt down next to the lake and looked at the water. It was murky and brown, nothing like it should be. The villagers had even mentioned their concerns about the lake during their conversations.

The miko held out her hands over the lake and then shoved them into the water, gathering and releasing her purification powers into the lake. Like a ripple, the pink glow from her hands spread through the lake, causing the lake and everything around it to glow brightly.

InuYasha watched in awe. The power that Kagome had, even in her weakened state, was incredible.

When Kagome took her hands out of the water, she and InuYasha watched the lake slowly go back to normal, the water crystal clear and beautiful.

"It worked..." InuYasha said in awe. He glanced at Kagome, who was still watching the lake. _She's amazing, _he thought before blushing profoundly.

The two of them left, walking back to the village, InuYasha still in awe in what he just saw.

- - -

That night Kagome tossed and turned in her bed, sweat pouring down her body. She winced and tried to wake up, but it was futile.

- - -

_..."Kagome! Snap out of it!"..._

_...InuYasha growled and his knuckles cracked. "Kagome!" he shouted, making Kagome stop and all the students turn to look at him._

"_Kagome?" some people asked, and others said things like "Higurashi Kagome? The one who goes to this school?"..._

_...The miko growled. "Stop." InuYasha took a step forward. Kagome growled more. "Stop!" The daring hanyou started to walk towards her, but slowly._

"_I SAID STOP!" Kagome yelled, turning around and slashing through the air, causing three long gashes to appear on InuYasha's face. He winced was the blood started to trickle down to his chin, but he walked forward..._

_...Kagome took a step back, and held her claws towards the students, her wings flaring out a bit. "If you come any closer, I'll kill them all," Kagome said, just loud enough for the humans to hear. The students gasped and a couple screamed, but none of them moved, in fear that they would be killed sooner._

"_You wouldn't do that, Kagome," InuYasha said stepping forward. Kagome's hand went closer to the humans, but she made no move to kill them..._

_..."Because you're not a youkai! You're a human! You wouldn't kill your friends, Kagome! You've had enough strength to stop yourself from killing me plenty of times! This is no different!"..._

_..."What are you doing?" Kagome shouted, taking another step back. He was about a foot away from her now._

"_This isn't you. You're not really a youkai, and you're not going to kill these people. You're a miko," InuYasha said, ignoring the clawed hand threatening to hurt him._

"_No I'm n--!" Kagome's protests were cut off by InuYasha embracing her tightly. She glared and struck him through the stomach with her claws, but he grasped her tighter..._

- - -

Kagome awoke with a start, her breathing short and ragged. It was dark, and no one was up yet. Deciding not to bother anyone, she stood and walked outside, not realizing that InuYasha watched her.

_She must have had another memory return_, InuYasha thought, frowning. Instead of following her, like usual, he sat in his spot, one eye opened and waiting for Kagome to return.

- - -

The next day was a good one. Kagome seemed fairly happy, hiding the fact that she remembered well. She was anxious, and didn't want night to return again.

Sango woke up around noon, and was happy to remember that Naraku had been killed. Miroku even celebrated her waking up with a grope with his now un-cursed hand. Sango wasn't really in the mood for celebrating after that.

Shippo seemed to enjoy playing with the village children, and the village children seemed to enjoy playing with InuYasha, even if he didn't enjoy it all that much.

Kagome got some tips from the village mikos (somehow this village seemed to have plenty of people with spiritual powers) and even trained with them a little bit as she tried to hone her skills.

The day went by smoothly, all of the villagers happy to have heroes amongst them.

The night didn't go quite as smoothly, though.

Kagome had another dream.

- - -

_..."Kagome!" InuYasha shouted as he ran towards where she floated in the air. He looked up at her and glared. "You've got to stop this!"_

"_Never!" Kagome shouted, her grin as wide as ever. "You have no control over me anymore! You can't stop me! Not unless you fight me!"..._

_..."Because I know how you are! You're unselfish! You care about others! You're Kagome! You aren't a youkai, and you don't want to kill them!" InuYasha shouted out._

_Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Sorry, hanyou, but your words will have no effect on me this time. I have no idea what sort of magics cause this feeble human soul to return to what it once was, but I'm not going to fall out of control any more! Hanyou, prepare to die!" Kagome shouted, showing her fangs and claws to InuYasha..._

_..."Possessed? Possessed! You think I'm possessed? Ha! I'm far from possessed! I'm a youkai, and I'm gonna kill you!" Kagome yelled, running towards InuYasha, her claws ready..._

_..."You're done for," Kagome said, jumping up and kicking InuYasha into the ground, making a small crater reminiscent of the holes made by the enchanted necklace that the hanyou wore._

_Kagome landed next to him, and crouched down, ready to strike the last blow to his unconscious form. Her clawed hand went straight for his neck._

_Only a small trickle of blood seemed to come from InuYasha's neck. Kagome hadn't touched him; she hadn't even finished the blow. Her hand stopped right when she touched his neck with her claw._

"_Why... can't I kill him?" Kagome asked herself, anger flaring around her._

_She growled and stood, glaring at the unconscious boy in front of her. "No matter. I'll just have to kill something else," she said, her voice dark and malicious..._

_..."This is gonna be fun," said the possessed miko, before lunging towards the humans..._

_...Kagome stood on top of the largest pile of wood and buildings, a few chickens cut up on the ground near her. Littered all over the ground was bodies and blood, and Kagome was covered in the blood of others, grinning madly. She held onto the clothing of a human still alive, squirming under her gaze and tears streaming down her cheeks..._

_...She pulled back her hand and stuck it through the human's gut, piercing through numerous organs. Blood covered Kagome's hand and started to slide down her arm... The woman with a hand in her stomach started to cough up blood, which splattered on Kagome's still grinning face..._

_...Slowly, she faltered and returned to normal, falling unconscious once more, blood seeping down her body._

_InuYasha picked her up so she would be more comfortable on both of them, and walked over to Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo, who all took a couple steps back. The hanyou's eyes saddened, but it was hidden by a glare._

"_She's harmless now, guys," InuYasha said, his voice harsh._

"_Yeah, but how long will that last?" Shippo asked, the fearsome realization of that statement striking everybody to the core..._

- - -

Kagome's eyes opened with a start, the blood red color of her irises seeming to glow in the darkness.

_End Chapter_


	27. Not Again

So, we're at the next chapter, eh? And Kagome's turned youkai again. :3

Anyway, I don't really have any news for you guys. On with the chapter, though it's not really interesting, this time. And kind of short.

hr 

Save Me From Myself 

**Chapter Twenty-seven: Not Again...**

_I wonder what other people thought whenever they came across me while I was a youkai? Were they afraid? Concerned? Angry?_

_Whatever they were, they usually weren't calm. Which is why _that _was so surprising._

- - -

The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day out. Perfect for fishing, or scavenging, or maybe even hunting.

But not was all well.

Shippo yawned and stretched, being the first to wake up for once. He looked around, and noticed something was missing.

InuYasha slept in the corner; Sango was laying on the other side of the paper screen, with Miroku on the nearest side. Kirara lay next to Sango's feet, and Kagome...

Kagome?

Shippo sniffed around, and even before finding the miko's scent, the kitsune knew what had happened. He looked around and shouted, "Kagome!"

The whole hut seemed to jump in surprise. The shout woke everyone up, and InuYasha knew why almost instantly.

"Kagome's transformed," he said, glaring at the door.

Instead of looking surprised, like they usually do, Sango and Miroku just nodded and got their stuff ready, letting InuYasha find the direction in which they were supposed to go first.

Once outside and ready, Sango and Shippo jumped on Kirara, while Miroku and InuYasha ran next to them.

With InuYasha leading them, they traveled away from the village and at a breakneck speed to where InuYasha smelled their friend.

Miroku caught up to InuYasha and asked, "Why did Kagome transform? I know that you know something that we don't. You and Kagome have been acting strange the last couple of days."

InuYasha frowned. With a small sigh, he answered, "Kagome's been regaining her memory."

"What?!" Miroku shouted, almost losing pace with InuYasha as he did so. "Why didn't you say anything sooner? Sango and I may have been able to do something!" Miroku's usually kind tone was one of anger.

The hanyou growled. "I don't think anything _could_ be done. This was probably all Naraku's doing."

Miroku's eyes went wide. "Of course. He planned all of this out. Even if he died, he could still exact his revenge. So he made it that Kagome would regain her memories if she was killed or if someone attempted to take the jewel out," Miroku summed up, glaring into the distance.

InuYasha growled more.

- - -

Kagome stood, glaring and ready to attack. Finally, she had found a worthy opponent, and one that _wouldn't_ change her back into that dreadful human girl.

She didn't understand. How did that... _hanyou _manage to affect her so much? It didn't make sense.

At least this youkai wouldn't have that affect, and he was stronger to boot!

"You're InuYasha's human wench..." said the other youkai.

Kagome's brow furrowed in confusion and anger.

"Inu... Yasha?" she repeated, thinking. "You mean that awful hanyou? Why would I belong to him at all?"

"I see that you have been transformed into a false youkai."

"_FALSE?!_ You'll pay! Fight me, Sesshoumaru!" Kagome yelled, running towards the daiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru easily avoided Kagome's initial attack, but was taken by surprise at her next one, which was a swipe at thin air that managed to scrape his skin. The inuyoukai looked at the wound carefully before looking back at Kagome.

"Tell me, girl. Did Naraku transform you into what you are?" Sesshoumaru surmised.

"That hanyou bastard? I suppose that's one good thing that he's done, is given me a suitable body. But it doesn't matter now. He's dead," Kagome revealed.

Sesshoumaru's glare deepened. He wasn't expecting that tidbit of information. But he couldn't care less.

The miko ran towards Sesshomaru, her claws ready. He took a swipe at her, but missed as she disappeared into the air like a bolt of lightning. Just as fast, she flew towards him, grazing his cheek as she passed.

Once she went by him, Sesshoumaru sent out a poison whip from his fingers, managing to slash Kagome a couple times.

Kagome screamed in pain and touched ground, turning and smirking.

"It seems I was right to pick you as an opponent," Kagome said.

Sesshoumaru hardly acknowledged the compliment. Though, he was having a bit more trouble with her than normal youkai. Not that he was ever going to admit that.

Kagome charged towards Sesshomaru once more, only to be knocked to the side by a flash of red.

"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted as he tried to restrain her.

Kagome struggled, pushing InuYasha's face away with the palm of her hand. He could hardly keep one arm down, let alone her whole body.

InuYasha growled as Sesshoumaru walked over to Kagome.

Kneeling down, Sesshoumaru brought his hand to Kagome's forehead. She watched it, still trying to struggle against InuYasha, and gasped as Sesshoumaru flicked her in the forehead.

The force of his move caused Kagome's head to hit the ground and leave a good-sized dent in it.

Needless to say, she was unconscious.

"I had it under control," InuYasha said as he got up, wiping his forehead.

"I beg to differ," Sesshoumaru replied, starting to walk away.

"Sesshoumaru..." InuYasha started. "If you see Kagome again, in this same state... Don't kill her."

The inuyoukai stiffened and said after a moment's pause, "You'll be happy to know that it was hard for me to land a blow on her."

The hanyou couldn't be sure if he heard right, but before he could think about it, InuYasha's comrades arrived and Sesshoumaru had disappeared.

"Well, at least we found her before she could get to anyone," Miroku said, glancing at Kagome.

"Yes, we are pretty lucky," Sango agreed, walking next to her fiancé.

Shippo bounced off of Kirara and went over to Kagome, to check on her.

"Hey," Shippo said, looking at InuYasha.

"What do you want, runt?" InuYasha said harshly.

"Well, Kagome hasn't go--"

InuYasha, holding up his hand, interrupted Shippo.

With a growl, InuYasha muttered, "I smell wolf."

Chapter End 


End file.
